View source for The Boundary Waters Treaty (BWT)

{{Agreement
|Agreement Signed=1909/01/11
|Agreement Type=non-binding, trans-national, sub-national, treaty
|Included Resource={{Link Water Feature
|Water Feature=The Great Lakes
}}{{Link Water Feature
|Water Feature=The St. Lawrence River
}}{{Link Water Feature
|Water Feature=The St. Mary and Milk Rivers
}}
|Included Riparian={{Link Riparian
|Riparian=Canada
}}{{Link Riparian
|Riparian=The United States of America
}}
|Water Projects Included in Agreement=
|Related Initiatives={{Link Water Project 2
|Water Project=The International Joint Commission (IJC)
}}
|Projects Influenced by Agreement={{Link Water Project 3
|Water Project=The Devils Lake Outlet
}}{{Link Water Project 3
|Water Project=The Columbia River Treaty
}}{{Link Water Project 3
|Water Project=The Garrison Diversion Project
}}{{Link Water Project 3
|Water Project=The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement
}}{{Link Water Project 3
|Water Project=The Trail Smelter Arbitration
}}{{Link Water Project 3
|Water Project=Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Agreement
}}
|Previous Agreement=
|Description=The Boundary Waters treaty was signed in 1909 by the U.S. and Canada to create an institutional framework for the use and management of transboundary water resources and provide mechanisms for resolving disputes over these resources (Heinmiller, 2009). The treaty outlines equal and similar rights to transboundary waters to the U.S. and Canada, including the complete freedom of use so long as said use does not affect flows or water levels or cause pollution in the other country. The treaty also mandates the creation of the International Joint Commission as an institution for managing transboundary water issues and conflicts, and outlines the powers and responsibilities of the commission. The treaty also made specific apportionments with regard to disputes on the St. Marys, Milk, and Niagara rivers. It also established an order of precedence between uses of transboundary waters, which are as follows:

1)	Use for domestic and sanitary purposes

2)	Uses for navigation

3)	Uses for hydropower and irrigation

History

 The boundary waters treaty was created to address the need for cooperative management of water resources across the U.S. Canada border, made obvious by water conflicts in the great lakes and prairie regions in the early 1900’s. These included disagreements over hydroelectric development in the St. Marys and Niagara rivers in the great lakes region and the St. Marys and Milk rivers in the prairie region. The International Waterways Commission was created in 1905 to facilitate cooperation in the great lakes region, and with its limited success suggested the need for larger and more comprehensive institutions facilitating cooperation between the two governments (Heinmiller, 2009). This led to the drafting of the Boundary Waters Treaty in 1909.
|External Links={{External Link
|Link Text=Boundary waters Treaty, full text
|Link Address=http://www.ijc.org/rel/agree/water.html
}}
|Case Review={{Case Review Boxes
|Empty Section=No
|Clean Up Required=No
|Expand Section=No
|Add References=No
|Wikify=No
|connect to www=No
|Out of Date=No
|Disputed=No
|MPOV=No
|ForceDiv=yes
}}
}}