COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho (AP) — The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a research fellowship to a University of Idaho student to develop a computer model involving aspects of the Columbia River Treaty.
The Spokesman-Review reports (http://bit.ly/J7WU1d ) in a story published Saturday that Mark Cecchini-Beaver’s computer model will describe legal, technical and physical aspects of the Columbia River.
The model will be used in upcoming talks between U.S. and Canadian authorities.
The 1964 treaty that governs flood control and power generation along the 1,200-mile river can be canceled by either side after September 2024 with a 10-year minimum notice.
Discussions to make changes to the treaty could begin as early as 2014.
Cecchini-Beaver is working on a law degree and master’s degree in science. He is part of the school’s Waters of the West program.
