In Donald Trump's eyes, it's a "very large faucet" flowing from Canada to the US. The Columbia River is an immense transboundary waterway that originates in British Columbia and empties at Astoria, Oregon, in the US, passing through several national parks in both countries. It meanders for 2,000 kilometers – 800 of them on Canadian territory – and at its mouth has an average flow of 7,500 cubic meters per second. "It's a magnificent river, powerful right from its source," said Tricia Stadnyk, Canada Research Chair in Hydrological Modeling at the Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary, Alberta. Signed in 1961, the river treaty governs water sharing between the two countries, power generation, flood prevention and ecosystem protection.
British Columbia announced on Tuesday, March 11 that the US has paused talks to update the Columbia River Treaty, despite an agreement in principle reached in July 2024. Negotiations had already been suspended in 2021, but the context is very different. Since November 2024, Trump has been repeating over and over that Canada could become America's "51st state," and has made no secret of his thirst for Canadian waters, including those of the border Great Lakes. In September 2024, he spoke of his interest in the Columbia River, which he would like to be able to divert to curb the droughts affecting the US.
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