[Six Dams in the Four Major Rivers to Open Floodgates] Floodgates to Be Open All Month, But Only to Release a Trickle of Water

The government decided to keep the floodgates of six dams, among the sixteen dams in the four major rivers, open at all times beginning June 1. However, experts criticize that plans to lower the water level in the dams by 69cm (average of the six dams) is not nearly enough to improve the water quality, such as reducing the green algae.

From the government office in Sejong on May 29, the government jointly announced in the name of five offices뾲he Office for Government Policy Coordination, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and the Ministry of Public Safety and Security뾭lans to open the sluices of six dams뾉angjeong Goryeong-bo Dam, Dalseong-bo Dam, Hapcheon Changnyeong-bo Dam, Changnyeong Haman-bo Dam (Nakdonggang River), Gongju-bo Dam (Geumggang River), and Juksan-bo Dam (Yeongsangang River)뾞t all times beginning 2 p.m. on June 1.

The government drew up this plan after President Moon Jae-in ordered, "Prepare to keep the dams in the four major rivers, where green algae is likely to occur, open at all times ahead of the summer," on May 22.

The opening of the floodgates in the six dams will reduce the water level by 2-3cm an hour for three days, until it reaches a certain level. As a result, the water level in these dams will drop from 20cm to 1.25m.

However, environmental groups and experts fiercely criticized the government's latest announcement saying, "The bureaucrats are up to their tricks again" (Park Chang-geun, professor at Catholic Kwandong University) and "This is less than 10% of the 1 billion ton of water reserved in the dams along the four major rivers, too little to expect any improvement in water quality" (Korea Federation of Environmental Movements). Yeom Hyeong-cheol, secretary-general of the Korea Federation of Environmental Movements went so far as to criticize, "There is no willingness to protect the source of our drinking water, which should be top priority, and the latest measure is virtually a protest to the president's orders."

The government explained the reason for choosing to release such a small amount of water saying, "We need to make sure there are no problems in the water supply for agricultural purposes since it is rice planting season," but experts refuted that this also needed to be confirmed.

The government is reviewing plans to lower the water level in the six dams by an additional 50cm-1m around October, after the annual harvest, and plans to repair pumping stations for agricultural water by the end of 2018 and open all sixteen dams to keep the water at the lowest level.

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