The lesson the utility has learned is that, even though it is not its responsibility, it is far better to pay to have the upstream forests thinned and cleared so future wildfires in the watershed are nowhere near as fierce, river flows improve, storms do less damage and droughts become less frequent.
We hop into a motorized canoe and cross the fierce river into the largest of the flood zones.
With competition among cruising companies already fierce on rivers further west — like the Nile, the Danube and the Volga — the Tonle Sap and the Mekong are starting to attract more interest from foreign operators.
A total of 11 hydroelectric dams are proposed or planned for the main-stem river, and this has set off a fierce debate over the river's future.
But those in the north-eastern Parnaíba basin, close to recent gas discoveries, and offshore blocks near the mouth of the Amazon river attracted fierce bidding.
Tenders are also expected later this year for a new cascade of dams in the Amazon that are due to be built on the Tapajos river, despite fierce opposition from the Mundruku indigenous group.
Last night it became a magnet for a fierce flotilla of heavy river driftwood, including ancient telephone poles from God knows where that battered our tethered rowboat and cracked the waist-high wooden retaining wall that holds up and protects our little garden.
The dreaded northern snakehead, a fierce predator common in the rivers and lakes of Asia but considered an invasive species in American waters, had been spotted.
Consider the time he took a group of visitors to his Texas ranch across a river in a fierce rainstorm.
Leading conservationists, including formerly fierce critics of the Yellow river's management, have also lauded the improvement, though they emphasise that more needs to be done.
