Registration for the Columbia River Treaty Review Conferences in Golden (March 20) and Castlegar (March 22) closes March 15. Information about the conference is being emailed and advertised in local papers and online. You can attend one of the free conferences in person by registering here. The March 22 conference in Castlegar will also be streamed live. You can register to participate via live stream here.
 

The conferences will begin at 9:00 am and end at 5:00 pm. Registration begins at 8:15 am and there will be an open house with information and experts on Columbia River Treaty basics from 8:30 am – 9:00 am.

The morning will begin with a look at the Treaty options outlined in the draft technical studies paper that will be available on March 11, 2013 on gov.bc.ca/columbiarivertreaty Participants will then move to breakout sessions to examine in more detail the implications of the Treaty Options for select water bodies: Kinbasket, Arrow, Kootenay System, Lower Columbia. This will be followed by the U.S. Entity presentation describing the Treaty Review process across the border.

After lunch (provided), a moderated panel of Basin residents will discuss how local environmental and social interests may be affected by the three potential Treaty decisions: continue, terminate, amend.

Following the panel will be breakout sessions on some key interests identified by Basin residents: archaeology performance measures for power system planning; salmon in the Columbia Basin; climate change impacts on BC Hydro operations; wetlands ecology; regional economic development and access; and flood management operations and bylaws. Participants will have an opportunity to discuss the issues and determine how they can be best addressed – regionally/provincially or through the Columbia River Treaty Review.

The conference will close with a discussion of next steps and how Basin residents can continue to provide their views to the Province.

For more information on the conference, visit gov.bc.ca/columbiarivertreaty