The Columbia River has been harnessed for power, irrigation, flood control, and navigation. It started in 1942 with the construction of Grand Coulee Dam, the largest on the Columbia River, now called the eighth wonder of the world. The dam has 11 gates to allow the water to fall from twice the height of Niagara Falls, at a rate of a hundred million gallons a minute. This dam is located in Washington State in the U.S.A.

"The river drains an area larger than France, and drops over 2,650 feet in elevation as it travels 1,214 miles from the Canadian Rockies to the Pacific Ocean. The Colum

Those opposing the building of the dam believed that the government (federal and provincial) did not appreciate the value of this most precious resource: fresh, flowing water. They did not consider the value of giving away control of the water and the value of the actual water usage. How much is this worth? Since this treaty, for over thirty years now, a large Canadian corporation has been regulating much of the flow of the Kootenay River to American advantage, without any reward. Therefore, the monies given to the Canadian government is returned indirectly to the Americans through flood control. More recently, we have given away half of the flow of that river, and have sold for a lot of money, the Arrow Lakes valley to the United States. There is an even greater danger that we will continue to make the same mistakes with our other waters, including the Great Lakes River systems.

bia River and its tributaries make up what people refer to as the Columbia River. The total hydro electricity generated by this system is a third of all the hydroelectricity power generated in the United States. " (Boyer, pg. 821-826). This is still not enough; they are still adding dams on this river system.

The United States of America could not effectively generate enough electricity, and thus the Columbia River Treaty was born. The treaty was a cooperative effort of both the Canadian and the American governments to effectively harness, and share the power generated by the Columbia River system. The Columbia River Treaty was a cause of great concern for the federal government and the people of British Columbia. The treaty, for which negotiations were started in 1932, was finally signed in Washington D.C. in 1961. The Premier of British Columbia, Premier Bennett, believed Canada had negotiated an exceptionally lucrative deal with the United States in regards to the sale of hydroelectric power. He believed the other benefits, such as flood control, and economic development that would result from the availability of this new power, would be of even greater worth for Canada. This view point is shared by, John Krutilla, who was well respected in the hydroelectric field, and who was retained by the United States Resources' for the Future Corporation. He wrote a book called The Columbia River Treaty wherein, he analyzed the treaty in terms of dollars and cents. He con

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1598
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)