The B.C. Liberal government has appointed East Kootenay MLA Bill Bennett to represent provincial interests for the potential renegotiation of the Columbia River Treaty with the U.SA.

Bennett said he is familiar with the issues around the treaty, having held the energy, mines and petroleum resources portfolio in the past, and volunteered to take up the file upon approval from Rich Coleman, the current energy minister.

"My role here and my focus here is to make sure the region where I come from ends up at least as well off with a renegotiated treaty as they are today," said Bennett.

The treaty was created in 1964 between Canada and the U.S. and outlines cooperative development guidelines and operation of water resources in the Columbia River Basin.

The treaty can be terminated or renegotiated in 2024 upon agreement from both sides.

The terms under the agreement stipulate that 60 years must pass before anything can be changed, and any new changes requires a 10-year notice, which can be brought to the table in 2014.

Having a Kootenay government MLA involved in the negotiations will help bring a local perspective to any issues and focus the priorities for any potential changes, said Bennett.

Bennett will be meeting with Kootenay NDP opposition members, along with Coleman and Pat Bell, the minister of jobs, tourism and innovation-the ministry which the Columbia Basin Trust falls under-to collectively identify concerns facing regional residents.

He will also head to Portland, Ore., in July for a conference on the treaty, which includes the American side of negotiations-the Bonneville Power Corporation and the Army Corps of Engineers.

"It has a huge impact on British Columbia, fiscally," said Bennett. "It also has the potential to have a negative impact in the future if we don't understand what the issues are and don't prepare ourselves for negotiations or discussions with the U.S."

Water management and downstream benefits are issues that will likely be discussed with U.S. officials.

Downstream benefits from power generation in the U.S. net between $150 million to $300 million annually into provincial coffers and the Columbia Basin generates roughly 40 per cent of B.C.'s electricity.

Managing dams a certain way and releasing water a certain way will affect American water usage for electricity generation and flood risk management, Bennett pointed out.

While power generation and flood risk management are the pre-eminent drivers of the treaty, Bennett would like to include social economic issues such as tourism and recreation on Koocanusa Lake.

This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to give people in the basin an opportunity to participate in the treaty process, said Norm Macdonald, NDP MLA for Columbia River-Revelstoke.

"Part of it will be an education for people in the basin," said Macdonald. "The other part of it will be making decisions and consulting with the people we represent to see what they would like to see changed, if we do choose to renegotiate the treaty."