The Elk-Kootenai/y Reference was delivered to the IJC on March 8, 2024, by the Canadian and US governments, incorporating a proposal developed in partnership with the Ktunaxa Nation. This is the first time the IJC has received a reference where an Indigenous Nation played a key role in its development.
For the IJC, a “reference” is a specific request from the Canadian and US governments, asking the IJC to study and recommend solutions to transboundary issues. In this instance, the governments, together with the Ktunaxa Nation, asked the IJC to appoint a study board with experts from each country, chosen for their professional abilities and knowledge, to investigate the causes of water pollution in the Elk-Kootenai/y watershed. More information on the International Elk-Kootenai/y Study Board is available here.
For the Elk-Kootenai/y Reference, the IJC was also asked to establish a Governance Body -- distinct from the IJC’s Study Board. This Governance Body is composed of the Canadian and US federal governments, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, and six Ktunaxa Nation governments: ʔakisq̓nuk, ʔaq̓am, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, yaqan nuʔkiy, and Yaqit ʔa·knuqⱡi’it. The Governance Body’s work will be informed by the study board. Its objective is to co-develop options to enable more timely actions that reduce and mitigate the impacts of water pollution to protect the people and species in the Kootenai/y watershed.
The reference asked the IJC to assist these governments in developing Terms of Reference (the operating instructions for how it goes about its work) for the Governance Body, and then to provide “advice and assistance” for two years, which has led to the IJC serving as the Governance Body Secretariat.
The IJC’s role as Secretariat has been to serve as a neutral guiding facilitator for all Governance Body meetings; helping the Governance Body to make consensus decisions and chart its path forward according to its Terms of Reference.
As the Secretariat, the IJC supports the Governance Body in organizing, planning and convening meetings; provides administrative support; and assists the Governance Body in maintaining accountability. Recently, the Secretariat has been busy supporting the Governance Body as it works on its draft action plan, which is being developed by a working group. As per the Governance Body’s Terms of Reference, it must develop its action plan no later than six months after the release of the study board’s final report.
To date, the Governance Body has held three in-person meetings and five virtual meetings. The in-person meetings have included visits on the lands of Kootenai Tribe of Idaho (including a visit to the tribe’s sturgeon and burbot hatchery), ʔaq̓am, yaqan nuʔkiy, and Yaqit ʔa·knuqⱡi’it and visits to Elk Valley Resources mine sites near Elkford and Sparwood, British Columbia, and to the Pacific Environmental Science Centre in North Vancouver, British Columbia. These visits have been valuable for Governance Body members to build relationships with one another, learn about what related work is happening in the basin, and learn what the Elk-Kootenai/y watershed means to the governments involved and the communities in the basin.
The Governance Body decided in early 2026 that it wished to have the IJC remain as Secretariat beyond the end date originally set out in the Governance Body Terms of Reference. Global Affairs Canada and US Department of State, with the support of the Ktunaxa Nation, confirmed this decision and formally wrote the IJC asking it to continue to serve as the Secretariat of the Governance Body until June 30, 2027, or six months after the IJC’s International Elk-Kootenai/y Watershed Study Board’s final report is delivered to the Governance Body, whichever is later.
The IJC looks forward to continuing as Governance Body Secretariat and supporting collaborative, timely actions to reduce and mitigate the impacts of water pollution in the Kootenai/y watershed.
For more information on the Governance Body and its work and meetings to date, please visit: https://ijc.org/en/elk/governance-body.
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