75 years of Canada-US transborder water quantity hydropolitics

Abstract

This paper reviews the history and evolution of Canada-United States transboundary water quantity politics (hydroelectricity, canals, irrigation, etc.) over the last 75 years: megaprojects on the St. Lawrence, Niagara, and Columbia Rivers during the early Cold War, a wide variety of transborder water issues stretching from coast to coast during the latter half of the twentieth century, and then recent hydropolitics concerning diversions from the Great Lakes basin. Utilizing an environmental history approach, and drawing from other fields such as historical geography, water policy, and political ecology, I show that Canada and the United States cooperatively manipulated border water environments on a large scale. Despite this coordination, there was often significant political and diplomatic controversy. I argue that coordinating or dealing with the United States deeply influenced the development of hydroelectricity in Canada, as well as the related hydraulic engineering expertise and technology. Moreover, transborder water politics also influenced many aspects of Canadian economic and political development, including federal-provincial relations. I explore themes such as Canada as a hydro state, the role of the Boundary Waters Treaty and the International Joint Commission, and concepts such as hydraulic nationalism and hydraulic imperialism.

Keywords:

• Transboundary water politics
• Canada-US relations
• water diplomacy
• hydroelectricity
• water quantity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.