Vice Minister Sohn Byung-seok of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) hold a MOU on the government’s integrated water management with Vice Minister Ahn Byung-ok of the Environment Ministry at the Han River Flood Control Center on June 10. (Photos: MOLIT)

The government plans to create value by ramping up the competitiveness of the water industry and technology and eliminating water resources waste and regional conflict. It also plans to minimize damage caused by flood and drought, and ease misgivings over the safety of water.

The Ministry of Environment, marking the 100th day of the ministry’s taking over water management, announced first steps toward sustainable water management, an agenda of unifying water management policies, on Sept. 18.

The ministry designated policies it will implement down the road following the unifying of water management policies. They are related to eliminating water resources waste, easing misgivings over the safety of water, minimizing damage caused by drought and flood, and consideration of future generations. It will implement policies to strengthen water technology and industry competitiveness and manage pollution sources in an innovative way in consideration of future generations.

The ministry plans to establish a national water management technology R&D 2030 roadmap covering all water management technology sectors, including tap water, sewage, water ecosystem and water resources. It will work out a master plan to develop water management technology and promoting the water management industry to provide support to water companies wanting to explore overseas markets.

The MOE will seek to nurture new industry sectors other than conventional water technologies and industries through the development of a water resources surveillance satellite, and the spreading of water photovoltaic power and hydrothermal energy.

Water photovoltaic power projects will be considered in such aspects as impacts on water quality and water ecosystem, safety of dams, and residents’ acceptance.

A system will be in place to block waste water from entering streams by reusing all waste water and industrial water.

The ministry will cut down on water resources waste and ease regional conflict. It will establish priority in state’s water use to enhance water utilization sustainability. It will change dam policy recognition paradigm from construction and management.

State-initiated dam construction will be stopped, and small- and mid-sized dam projects will be implemented in accordance with consensus and sympathy of each basin.

A body comprising of central, local government, regional experts and civic circle representatives will be formed to discuss chronic regional water issues.

Director General Kim Young-hoon of the Water Environment Management Bureau at the MOE said, “(We at the ministry) are working out an integrated water management policy roadmap on the first-step tasks, and it will be submitted to the government for approval late this year.”

A general view of the Yeongju Dam in Gyeongsangbuk-do.