The damming of the Columbia River parallels the building of the American Dream. The Columbia River Treaty and the American Dream are up for renewal with no real good plan in the offing for either.
In 2014, we must give notice if we choose to change the Columbia River Treaty in 2024. So much to learn, so many questions to ask. Any citizen who has gone to one of the Treaty information meetings knows the magnitude of the information required to make intelligent, wise decisions. It is just too much for the average citizen and always will be.
We need a new way to deal with the Treaty beyond politicians and corporate economic blueprints. We need the Columbia River International Freshwater Institute. The Columbia River Basin needs a freshwater institute, the world needs a great freshwater institute.
Let us join with our American brothers and sisters downstream and find a way to fund, find a way to give back to the river but a small part of the billions of dollars generated each year by the Columbia River and its tributaries.
It is time for the immigrants who have taken so much from this land to give back and to learn. The American people have much to learn about the headwaters and we have much to learn about the salmon, the apples, Hanford and the Grand Coulee Dam.
Let’s learn together by funding the Columbia River Freshwater Institute with a pittance part of the vast revenue generated by that oh-so grand and glorious Columbia River.
Is it a dream for tomorrow? Consider it just for a day, everything is first an idea, that is what a Creator would say.
Dick Murphy
Nelson