Why is the IJC interested in the St. Mary and Milk Rivers?
Use of the St. Mary and Milk Rivers was one of the disputes that led to the negotiation of the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty. Article VI of the treaty provides for apportionment of these two rivers to be made by two accredited officers one Canadian and one American, under the direction of the IJC. Today, officials of the U.S. Geological Survey and the Water Survey Division of Environment Canada act as the Accredited Officers, reporting to the IJC on the measurement and allotment of St. Mary and Milk River water each year. The procedures now in use were established in 1921, under an Order issued by the IJC (referred to as the 1921 Order or the St. Mary-Milk Order). Why did the IJC hold public consultations on the St. Mary and Milk Rivers in July 2004? In 2003, the State of Montana asked the IJC to reopen the order which provides the basis for the procedures used by the Accredited Officers to measure and apportion water from the two rivers in accordance with the 1921 Order, and determine w
