ABSTRACT
One hundred years ago, the United States and Canada sealed a treaty that, in some ways, was far ahead of its time.
At the turn of the last century there were two disputes over the use of shared waters: one for the allocation of the St. Mary’s and Milk Rivers in the West, and one over the use of the Niagara River between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. The Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 dealt with these two issues but, perhaps more importantly, also created a comprehensive, rules-based regime with an effective dispute avoidance and settlement mechanism that has worked to prevent and resolve transboundary water disputes between Canada and the United States for almost 100 years. This regime has effectively dispelled the old adage that is often referred to in western North America that “whiskey is for drinking; but water is for fi ghting.” Instead, transboundary water and (in some cases) air disputes between Canada and the United States have been dealt with peacefully and, for the most part, amicably by pursuing the common good of both countries.
