Yoon orders use of controversial weirs to fight drought

Social Affairs

Published: 04 Apr. 2023, 17:04 Updated: 04 Apr. 2023, 17:16

Yoon orders use of controversial weirs to fight drought

Parts of the reservoir of Juam Dam in Suncheon, South Jeolla are completely dried up due to protracted dry weather in the area. [YONHAP]

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday ordered the government to make use of reservoirs along Korea's four major rivers to supply water and fight the severe drought that southern areas of the country have faced since last year.

“We are experiencing an unprecedented severe drought and floods due to the climate crisis,” Yoon said during a Cabinet meeting Tuesday.

“The disused weirs on the four major rivers should be used actively.”

Yoon’s remarks came a day after the Ministry of Environment announced its mid- and long-term measures to resolve the ongoing drought in Gwangju and South Jeolla.

Southern parts of the country experienced drought for over 227 days last year, an all-time high number, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration.

The ministry's measures announced Monday included raising the water level at 16 weirs on the four major rivers, which were constructed as a part of the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project under the Lee Myung-bak administration.

The project was aimed to be a multipurpose “green growth” program on the Han, Nakdong, Geum and Yeongsan rivers.

“This is the first big drought we are experiencing since constructing the weirs on the river in 2012, which are much needed at this point,” said an official from the Environment Ministry.

“The maximum amount of water that can be stored [at these weirs] is around 620 million tons.”

This is about 14 times the amount of water that the entire population of the southern city of Yeosu uses for a year.

These reservoirs have been at the center of controversy at the start of every new presidential administration.

Critics raised environmental concerns when they were first built as river bottoms were dredged to store water, with algal blooms forming in summer, worsening water quality.

One of the weirs built along the Yeongsan River in South Jeolla [YONHAP]

After conducting a study of the weir system's effectiveness, the Moon Jae-in administration in 2019 decided to remove three weirs and open two weirs on the Geum and Yeongsan rivers, alleging that they worsened water quality.

Some 193.1 billion won ($147 million) were spent to remove the weirs through last year, according to media reports.

However, none have actually been removed.

The Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea (BAI) in December 2021 launched an audit to investigate if the decision was made based on appropriate procedures and data.

The ministry said that all 16 weirs will be "used in a positive way" until the audit results are out.

The effectiveness of these weirs in controlling floods and preventing drought is still in doubt.

“Droughts will become more severe in the future due to the climate crisis,” said Seo Dong-il, an environmental engineering professor at Chungnam National University.

“The decision should be made after scientifically assessing the effects of these weirs and taking into account the different features of the four rivers.”

The ministry’s measures announced Monday included adjusting the water supply system between dams and securing water resources such as by constructing desalination facilities to filter seawater for use as industrial water.

Additional intake of water from the nearby Seomjin River could be another option in urgent situations.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO, JEONG EUN-HYE [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]