What is the Libby Coordination Agreement?

Libby Coordination Agreement:
The Libby Coordination Agreement was signed on February 16, 2000 as an entity agreement under the Columbia River Treaty between the Canadian Entity (BC Hydro) and the U.S. Entity (Bonneville Power Administration and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers). The Libby Coordination Agreement allows the U.S. Entity to operate Libby dam to meet U.S. fisheries laws and provides options for Canada to self-compensate for the resulting loss of power production.

Background:
Under the terms of the Columbia River Treaty, Canada permitted the U.S. to build the Libby Dam on the Kootenai River (U.S. spelling) in Montana. The dam was completed in 1973 and the reservoir, flooding approximately 70 kilometers into Canada, filled for the first time in 1974. Due to difference in spelling Kootenay (i) the reservoir was named Koocanusa for Kootenay (i), Canada and the U.S.A. Under the Treaty, operation of Libby Dam was to be coordinated with Canada. Operations of Libby Dam from 1973 through 1992 were managed to optimize power generation and flood control in the two countries.

In 1993, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, responding to U.S. regulatory agency concerns, began to operate Libby in a manner designed to benefit downstream sturgeon spawning, with less water released from Libby during the fall and winter and more water released during the spring and summer. This operation resulted in power losses, including additional spill and reduced seasonal value, at downstream Canadian hydropower plants on the Kootenay River system. The Canadian Entity objected to this unilateral operating change. The dispute was set aside with the signing of the Libby Coordination Agreement.

In return for Libby Dam operations that meet U.S. regulatory requirements for fish, the Libby Coordination Agreement gives Canada the flexibility to self-compensate for its Kootenay River power value losses. Canada has the option to release water from the Arrow Lakes Reservoir and receive the resulting power generated at U.S. federal plants during periods of high power value. Canada returns the power to the U.S. during times of lower power value, with the value difference being the net compensation to Canada. Under the Libby Coordination Agreement, Canada also obtains some non-power benefits, including more favourable Treaty requirements on Arrow discharges during January, which benefits mountain whitefish spawning, and an option to exercise a Arrow-Libby “storage swap” agreement when beneficial to Canada. This “storage swap” agreement has been used in several years to improve recreational conditions for the communities on Koocanusa Reservoir.

Until 2002, Libby dam operations continued to observe the “Standard Flood Control” regime that had been in place since dam operations began. However, in response to a 2000 Biological Opinion, under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, Libby began operating to an interim alternative flood control procedure referred to as “Variable Flow” or “VARQ”. Libby dam began discharging less water during the fall/winter period and more water during the spring/summer to benefit downstream fish. However, this new flood control operating regime also resulted in slightly higher frequencies of peak water levels on Kootenay Lake and on the Columbia River downstream of Castlegar.

In June 2008, the U.S. Entity permanently adopted the “Variable Flow” flood control regime for Libby which, while still providing significant energy benefits and flood protection for Canada, does so at a reduced level compared to the terms expected by Canada when it ratified the Columbia River Treaty. The Canadian Entity notified the U.S. that compensation would be required for the reduced levels. The Columbia River Treaty Operating Committee has made some good progress on this issue, but has not yet reached final agreement.