Friday, July 6, 2012

Warren Buffett Removes Hydro Dams, Salmon Return, Leap Into Fishermen's Arms (BRK)

 Is there nothing the man can't do?

Okay, the leaping bit may be a stretch.
And it wasn't Warren personally blowing the tunnel and dismantling the dams, it was Pacificorp.
And they're a sub of MidAmerican which is the entity owned by Berkshire.
And he did ignore the Klamath krew when they showed up for the 2008 and 2009 BRK annual meetings.
But still, credit where credit...will be taken.
(you watch)

From NATURE:
Fish return to undammed Elwha River
First hope for salmon and trout restoration in biggest dam-removal project in US history.

A project to remove two hydroelectric dams from the Elwha River in Washington state is bringing benefits for local wildlife. In June, only months after the removal of the first dam was completed, salmon and steelhead spawned in two tributaries that had been inaccessible for more than 100 years.

But the fish are not home free yet. Massive amounts of sediment that had accumulated behind the dam have now been released, and could clog the gills of young and adult alike, killing them. The sediment will muddy the waters for at least three years before spreading out and rebuilding downstream river beds and coastal beaches; until then, the fish must navigate treacherous waters to breed.

The 72-kilometre Elwha River runs through Olympic National Park before spilling into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, on part of the reservation of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, whose people once relied on the river’s bounty. Before the construction of first the 33-metre-high Elwha Dam and then the 64-metre-high Glines Canyon Dam in the early twentieth century, the Elwha River boasted abundant populations of all five Pacific Northwest salmon species, as well as steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), native char (species of Salvelinus) and coastal cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii)....MORE
The Oregonian has some video of the drainage tunnel being blasted open, it's pretty dramatic.
The action starts at the 02:00 mark: