International Joint Commission Completes Critical Step in the Reference on Transboundary Water Pollution in the Elk-Kootenai/y Watershed

Press Release

December 1, 2025

The International Joint Commission (IJC) is pleased to announce that a critical step in the two-year Reference on Transboundary Water Pollution in the Elk-Kootenai/y Watershed has been completed by submitting the International Elk-Kootenai/y Watershed Study Board Interim Status Report to the Governments of Canada and the United States.

This report updates governments, along with the Ktunaxa Nation as co-signatory of the associated Proposal, of the work completed in developing a common understanding of water pollution within the Elk-Kootenai/y watershed, and its impacts on people and species.

“The timely delivery of the Interim Status Report represents another milestone in the IJC’s management and administration of this historic reference in United States-Canada transboundary water relations,” says Merrell-Ann Phare, lead IJC Commissioner appointed by Canada.

On March 8, 2024, the Governments of Canada and the United States provided a Reference that incorporates a proposal developed in partnership with the Ktunaxa Nation to the IJC, under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909, requesting the IJC undertake certain actions regarding the impact of transboundary water pollution in the Elk-Kootenai/y watershed. One of the actions was to establish a study board comprised of experts and knowledge holders that would conduct and synthesize transparent and coordinated transboundary knowledge sharing.

“We commend the Study Board, along with their technical working groups and partners, for the engagement, thoughtful approach and expertise culminating in this Interim Status Report,” said Gerald Acker, lead IJC Commissioner, appointed by the U.S.

The next major milestone will be the public comment period planned for summer 2026 on the Study Board’s draft final report, which will include recommendations on the matters set out in the Reference.

Quick Facts

• The Elk-Kootenai/y Reference, the Proposal, and the establishment of the Study Board are the result of many conversations and cooperative initiatives involving U.S. and Canadian federal agencies, provincial, state and Indigenous governments, and stakeholders regarding the impacts of pollution in the watershed.
• This is a historic moment for Canada-United States transboundary relations as it represents the first time that Indigenous Peoples have played a key role in the development of a reference to the IJC under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909.
• The Elk and Kootenai/y rivers rise in the Canadian Rockies of the province of British Columbia and flow into Koocanusa Reservoir, an impoundment of the Kootenai/y River that spans the Canadian-U.S. border. Below the reservoir, the Kootenai/y River continues to flow through transboundary Ktunaxa lands, through the states of Montana and Idaho, and back to the province of British Columbia, where it empties into the Columbia River.

Links

• Reference | International Joint Commission
• Trilateral Elk-Kootenai Scope, IJC Proposal
• Study Board | International Joint Commission
• Interim Status Report | International Elk-Kootenai/y Watershed Study Board

Contacts

Ed Virden                                                                                Cara Prest

U.S. Section                                                                           Canadian Section

edward.virden@ijc.org                                                      cara.prest@ijc.org

ILR4