Donald Waterfield’s Continental Waterboy: The Columbia River Controversy provides a critical firsthand analysis of the political, economic, and environmental disputes surrounding the implementation of the 1964 Columbia River Treaty. Waterfield documents the massive hydrological re-engineering of southeastern British Columbia, focusing on the construction of the colossal Mica Dam north of Revelstoke and the establishment of the remote construction townsite of Mica Creek. The text examines how the resulting impoundment of the Columbia River into the massive reservoir of Kinbasket Lake permanently submerged over a hundred miles of the historic Big Bend route, flooding ancient Indigenous river crossings, historic gold-mining workings, and ecological habitats. The work remains an essential historical and political record detailing the sacrifice of upper Columbia communities to international hydroelectric planning.

Big Bend Region (B.C.) History, British Columbia Columbia River Valley, British Columbia Mica Creek, Columbia River Treaty (1964), Dams British Columbia Columbia River History, History, Hydroelectric power plants British Columbia Columbia River, Kinbasket Lake (B.C.), Mica Creek (B.C.), Water resources development Columbia River Valley

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Includes bibliographical references and index.