The Columbia River Treaty’s adaptive capacity for fish conservation

Major international agreements governing the shared use of transboundary waters rarely deal explicitly with species conservation, yet they often have major implications for aquatic, avian, and terrestrial species. To meet conservation objectives, it may be necessary to find flexibility, or “adaptive capacity” within these agreements to enable conservation measures. This study applies incident analysis to assess the adaptive capacity of the Canada–US Columbia River Treaty (CRT) to respond to evolving species conservation needs. Like many other transboundary agreements, the terms of the CRT cover power production, flood protection and irrigation, but not species conservation. We analyze the discourses and normative expectations of politically relevant actors regarding an international conflict with Canada over the use of flow modifications by US agencies to conserve an endangered species of sturgeon. Four distinct discourse coalitions formed around the issue, each with its own interpretation of the problem, normative expectations about the rules that should apply, and power to shape decision making. The incident highlights how domestic conservation laws can directly impinge upon an international transboundary water treaty, and how flexibility can be found within existing institutional arrangements for conservation purposes. However, new norms for fish conservation were not fully incorporated into the CRT and decision-making authority for conservation-related disputes became more entrenched in the Treaty’s implementing agencies, potentially further excluding actors who might support fish conservation, such as environmental organizations and Indigenous governments. We recommend strategies to increase the adaptive capacity of the CRT and similar international agreements to enable species conservation.