Clip from BC Hydro Film “Action on the Columbia”
British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority (“BC Hydro”).
Columbia River Treaty clips from BC Hydro film “Action on the Columbia.”
Transcript of Narration:
[Horn instrumental music]
(White screen fades out to dam generating)
At low river stages, there is not enough water power. Output is curtailed.
(Pans over still Columbia River)
Lack of storage capacity was limiting power production on the lower Columbia.
Canadian and American engineers agreed that the answer to the problem lay in the Columbia basin in Canada.
(Map of British Columbia and Washington, zooms in on Columbia River in B.C.)
So, the American authorities opened formal negotiations with the government of Canada and the province of British Columbia, shortly after World War II to develop upstream storage areas in Canada.
[Tense music, into instrumental horns]
(Pans over rushing Columbia River)
But the international negotiations took time and, in Canada, the Columbia continued to flow unharnessed, as it had for thousands of years.
[Cheerful instrumental music]
(Pans down Peace Arch to political leaders at podium, cuts to crowd)
On September 16, 1964, at the peace arch on the international border at Blaine, Washington, the leaders of Canada and the United States of America met with the premier of British Columbia for formal ratification of the Columbia River Treaty.
(Pans over political leaders at podium, cuts to crowd)
This symbolic meeting, climaxing more than two decades of discussion on the subject of the great river, signified full agreement between two nations and was another historic day in the annals of Canadian-American friendship.
(Zoomed in on political leaders signing papers)
Each government leader signed with the conviction that an equitable arrangement had been achieved.
(Zoomed out on political leaders signing papers, cuts closer to leader signing)
The United States backed their action with a payment of 273 million dollars. The destiny of the Columbia was settled.
[Instrumental music with horns]
(Pans over Columbia River to mountains, cuts to different angle)
In broad terms, the Canadians agreed to regulate the upstream water of the river and, on their part, the Americans agreed to pay for this regulating service.
(Cuts to Columbia River with tree-lined shores)