Forty Years of International Cooperation: Columbia River Treaty Hydrometeorological Committee 1968-2008

The Columbia River Treaty was ratified in 1964 and established an agreement between the United States and Canada to build three storage projects on the Columbia River system in Canada (Mica, Arrow, Duncan) with the option to build Libby on the Kootenai River in the U.S. The goals of the Treaty were to provide better flood control for communities on the Columbia River, and to provide for the development of hydroelectric power generation in both countries. The Columbia River Treaty Hydrometeorological Committee (CRTHMC, or Committee) was formed in 1968 under the Treaty and was given the responsibility for planning and monitoring the operation of data collection facilities to support the Treaty. The Committee is comprised of members from B.C. Hydro in Canada and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Northwest Division and Bonneville Power Administration in the United States. A data exchange system, CROHMS, was developed by the Corps to manage the exchange of information across the Columbia basin to report on and support planning of the operation of Treaty projects on the Columbia River. The Committee has provided a forum for the exchange of ideas to advance the science of water supply forecasting in the Pacific Northwest