Questions raised over water quality of 4-river project

The Lee Myung-bak administration’s ambitious four-river restoration project may have hit a snag.

The Environment Ministry has asked the Land Ministry to reassess the predicted changes in water quality after the work has been executed and to develop measures to make improvements, if needed.

The request, obtained by the Joong-Ang Ilbo, came because the Environment Ministry was displeased with the results of the August draft of the environmental impact report submitted by the Land Ministry. The assessment was conducted by the National Institute of Environmental Research.

The Land Ministry, the spearhead of the four-river restoration project, has been planning to install a total of 16 reservoirs along the four rivers.

The Environment Ministry formulated its opinion after spending nearly a month reviewing the environmental report. The Environment Ministry asked the Land Ministry to assess “whether the water quality can be upgraded to the target level. Also, we need to come up with measures to control the quality of water under the scenario of sand accumulation and increase in the concentration of chemical nutrients in the ecosystem.”

The remarks coincide with existing concerns that the reservoirs will worsen the quality of water as the flow will be congested and weeds will grow. The government-run institute is now conducting the environmental impact research.

Now that the water quality prediction may have to be redone, the government might have little choice but to change the project’s schedule, budget and related measures.

“The results of the water quality prediction are set to come out next month at the earliest,” said Hong Dong-gon, head of the water ecosystem preservation team at the Land Ministry. The final draft of the environmental impact assessment report must be submitted to the Environment Ministry by early next month in order for the restoration work to begin next month as originally planned. Should the reassessment show water quality will worsen, the government may have to construct additional sewage disposal plants, which will need more funds.

The Lee administration placed the 22 trillion won ($19 billion) river restoration project at the top of its agenda late last year as a central part of its “Green New Deal” policy, arguing the restoration of the major rivers will strengthen dikes and contribute to flood control. The rivers are the Han, Nakdong, Geum and Yeongsan. Completion is scheduled for 2012. Opposition parties have insisted there are elements in the project related to a cross-country canal, which the Lee administration says it has abandoned.

Earlier this month, Democratic Party Rep. Kim Sung-soon said that water quality at 23 of 38 major points along the four rivers is expected to deteriorate in 2012, after the reservoirs have been installed, compared with that in 2008. The analysis was based on the results of the simulation conducted by the National Institute of Environmental Research. Kim claimed that proceeding with the four-river project “should be entirely reviewed.”

By Kang Chan-soo, Seo Ji-eun [spring@joongang.co.kr]