A River Captured: The Columbia River Treaty and Catastrophic Change - Revised and Updated

by Eileen Delehanty Pearkes

A River Captured explores the controversial history of the Columbia River Treaty and its impact on the ecosystems, Indigenous peoples, contemporary culture, cross-border politics and recent history of the Pacific Northwest. Long lauded as a model of international co-operation, the Columbia River Treaty governs the storage and management of the waters of the upper Columbia River basin, a region rich in water resources and with a natural geography well suited to hydroelectric megaprojects. The Treaty also displaced more than 2,000 residents of over a dozen communities, flooded and destroyed archaeological sites, and upended once-healthy fisheries. Paying special attention to First Nations history, ecology, economics, politics, and Canada–US relations, this investigative work weaves from the present day to the past and back again in an engaging and unflinching examination of how and why Canada decided to sell water storage rights to American interests. With one of the Treaty’s provisions set to change in 2024 and termination of the treaty requiring a 10-year notice period, this updated edition of A River Captured looks at the destructive mistakes of our collective past in order to save us from an even more difficult future

288 pages, Paperback

Published June 18, 2024

Reviews

[Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is a described in the summary above. The author does a good job of bringing a personal touch and insights in the issues surrounding the Columbia River Treaty. Knowing the area myself, her description of the impacts are accurate. The author has a very strong environmental and human impact bias which is laudable. Certainly many of the environmental and human aspects could have been handled much better as she clearly describes.

However, she never addresses the difficult trade offs involved in many aspects of our modern world. Specifically, while much of what she reports is accurate, the she doesn’t address the judgment we have to make as a society. That is, we have a need for electricity so how do we get it? Do we want to burn coal? Nuclear? As we evolve with climate change and the need to decarbonize the focus is on carbon free renewables, hence hydro power. Any choice comes with a cost. Whatever choice we make there are very difficult decisions required. The author is remiss in not acknowledging this.