3. Present Situation of Water Resources andCountermeasures for Drought in Korea
Soon Hyuk LEE1

1.

Introduction
In Korea, there are relatively less plains and more steep mountain regions. It hasa mean annual precipitation of 1,283mm, two third of which is concentrated in threesummer months - June, July, and August. Due to topography and climate conditions,Korea’s river flow considerably varies throughout the year, which repeatedly causes
serious natural disasters such as flood damage and drought and loss of lives andproperty. In addition, rapidly expanding industrial activities have significantly raised thenational standard of living over the last few decades. Thus, the social demand for citywater, agricultural water, and factory water has substantially increased. Likewise,
several water-related natural disasters over the last few years, e.g., drought in thesouthern and central regions between July 1994 and April 1995, flood in the central
region in August 1995, winter drought that started in October 1995, flood in Kyungki
and Kangwon provinces in 1996, severe drought in the central region in 2001 and heavy
flood in the central and northern regions in 2002 have aroused the whole nation’s
greatest concern. This paper mainly discusses the present situation of water resources,
relevant tasks, and some countermeasures for droughts in Korea.

2. Present Situation of Water Resources

2.1 Characteristics of Water Resources

Korea is located in a temperate monsoon zone. A major portion of its annual
precipitation consists of concentrated heavy rainfall that comes during a relatively short
1

Department of Agricultural Engineering, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, 361-763, Republicof Korea1period in the summer. For about six months of the year particularly in winter and spring,arid climate persists. Due primarily to this seasonal and regional disproportionate
distribution of its precipitation, it is very difficult to preserve water and avoid thefrequent flood and drought problems.
Korea has a mean annual precipitation of 1,283mm, which is 1.3 times that of
the world average. Therefore, its precipitation cannot be considered insufficient.
However, the annual average precipitation per person is 2,705m3. This represents a mere
10% of the world average of 26,800 m3.
A more important factor to consider is Korea’s seasonal and regional distribution.
Its precipitation distribution varies from 754mm to 1683mm. In terms of season, twothirds of the total annual precipitation is concentrated between June and September. On
the other hand, only one-fifth of the annual precipitation comes in from November toApril. Therefore, Korea suffers from frequent cases of flood and drought compared toother countries with evenly distributed annual precipitation.
Since the 1960s, Korea’s annual precipitation has been increasingly fluctuating.
This has resulted in more frequent floods and droughts, reflecting the poor state of watersupply facilities and flood prevention. In terms of region, Jeju and the southern coastal
region experience much rainfall with more than 1,500mm annual precipitation.
Conversely, inland Kyungbuk region only has 1,000mm annual precipitation. Thus,annual precipitation by region greatly varies.
Similarly, a large portion of the precipitation, about 600mm –700mm in Korea
is lost during evaporation and transpiration. They do not add to the river flow. Thus,
available precipitation is more or less than 500mm compared to the 1,283mm meanannual precipitation. As such, annual precipitation that is less than its mean presents astrong possibility for drought in Korea.
In addition to the climate factor, the topographical condition should also betaken into account. Unlike Europe that has several large plains, 65% of the national
land in Korea is mountainous. Naturally, the inclination of its rivers is largely steep.
When a heavy rainfall comes, overland flow velocity is a very high speedy. Thus,
substantial floods outflow in a very short span of time in comparison with the watershedarea and precipitation. Consequently, the coefficient of the river regime increases tomore than 300, which is actually ten times the global average (Table 1).

2

Table 1. Coefficient of river regime in Korea and foreign country
River (Stations), Korea

Coefficient ofRiver (country)

river regime

Coefficient ofriver regime

Han (Indogyo)

390

Missouri (U.S.A)

75

Geum (Gongju)

300

Thames (U.K)

8

Nakdong (Jindong)260

Rhine (Germany)

16

Yeongsan (Naju)

320

Donau (Germay, Estuary)

30

Seomjin (songjeong)390

Seine (France)

34

Source: Water and Health, Water Resources Corporation, Mar 2001.

Therefore, most rivers in Korea have drainage areas with somewhat large width
to allow easy and safe flood drainage. During the normal and dry seasons, rivers are
generally in a state of dry wash. Thus, the natural water environment is not very
advantageous for the efficient use of small lands in Korea.
On the other hand, Europe’s precipitation shows a well proportionate annual
distribution and relatively constant flow rate due to the west coast oceanic climate or theMediterranean climate. The variation of the flow rate is generally low during flood ordrought. Therefore, Europe does not urgently require countermeasures such asembankment and multi-purpose dam for flood and drought compared to Korea.
Other water resources-related problems in Korea include its considerable
regional imbalance of available water resources and the serious problem on groundwater development. In Korea, the annual amount of its ground water is estimated at 13 –14 billion m3. However, a major portion is supplied to the river flow during the dry
season. Likewise, the development of the aquifer strata is poor. Thus, large-scale
exploitation of ground water is very difficult.

2.2 Amount of Water Resources and Current State of Utilization
Figure 1 shows that Korea’s water resources as of 1998 total 12.76 billion m3,
which was derived by multiplying the mean annual precipitation of 1,283 mm and total

3South Korean land area of 99,450 km2. Subtracting the lost amount of 54.5 billion m3(43%) caused by evapotranspiration and infiltration from the total amount of water
resources yields a total river discharge of 73.1 billion m3 (57%). About 40 billion m3(31%) of the total river discharge flows to the sea. The remaining 33.1 billion m3 (69%)
is utilized as water through rivers, dams, and ground water. For the ground water inparticular, the total annual utilizable amount is estimated at 13.5 billion m3. However,current utilization amounts to only 3.7 billion m3. As of 1998, the total utilized amountof water in terms of utilization area is composed of life water 7.3 billion m3 (22%),
factory water 2.9 billion m3 (9%), agricultural water 15.8 billion m3 (48%), andsustainable river flow 7.1 billion m3 (21%).
(Unit: 108m3/year)

Total flow
1,276 (100%)

River flow

Loss of flow

731 (57%)545 (43%)

Flood flow

Normal flow

493 (39%)238 (18%)

Loss to sea

Use of river flow

Use of dam

Use of groundwater

400 (31%)161 (13%)133 (10%)37 (3%)

Total use flow
331 (26%)

Life water 73 (22%)
Factory water 29 ( 9%)Agricultural water 158 (48%)
Sustainable flow for river 71 (21%)

Figure 1. Present conditions for use and total flow of water resources in Korea.
Source: MOCT, Korea, 1998

4

3. Urgent Water Resources-Related Problems
3.1 Worsening Water Shortage

In order to secure a stable supply of water, Korea has constructed and iscurrently operating 13 multi-purpose dams and 31 multi-regional water supply systems
including factory water supply systems. Nonetheless, some regions almost routinely
suffer from water shortage. Likewise, 15% (7 million people) of the whole Korean
population experiences the annual interruption of city water supply. Droughts ofvarying scales have occurred eight times over the last decade. Moreover, 28 cities andcounties throughout the nation are not equipped with a stable water intake system. They
consistently suffer from droughts when dry seasons persist. This situation is expected toworsen in the future due to population increase, expansion of city water supply, andeconomic growth, which will all ultimately lead to the mounting demand for water.
Despite several large-scale facilities currently under construction, water shortage is still
expected to hit the whole nation from 2006 onwards. Likewise, the 2 billion m3 ofwater will not meet the water demand in 2011. In order to cope reasonably with thiswater shortage problem, the Korean government is seeking to maximize 5.1 billion m3of new water resources including several multi-purpose dams by stages. As such, itplans to increase the water reserve rate from 7.7% in 1994 to 8.5% in 2011. The
successful implementation of this plan is expected to solve the water shortage in Korea.

3.2 Inadequacy of the Integrated Water Management

Uncertainty in information on the amount of utilizable water and the quantity ofwater utilized, as well as the inadequacy in management and information supply havecast doubts on the prospects of the demand for water and water shortage. The
independent operation of multi-purpose dams and single-purpose dams with the same
river system bring about serious inability to supply water and control flood through the
combined management of dams.

53.3 Difficulty in Securing Water Requirement and Supplying Water

In Korea, there is a severe imbalance in terms of renewable water resources perperson (annual average natural river flows/whole population) among regional watershedbasins. As a result, some regions have serious difficulty in securing water resources. In
such situation, the development of water resources via the construction of dams posessocial and political problems due to the enhanced environmental consciousness of thegeneral public, loss of life base in submerged districts, ecological changes, massive
constraints in the development of dam peripheral areas, and lack of appropriate areas fordam construction. Moreover, the competitive distribution process of limited wateramong different regions in the upper stream and lower reach of rivers and deteriorationof water quality have critically hampered the supply of water.

4. Current State of Drought and Countermeasures
4.1 Current State of Drought

Since the 1960s, a relatively serious drought has taken place in Korea every 5-6
years, e.g., 1968, 1977, 1982, 1988, and 1994. The most recent and by far the most
distressing drought hit Korea between March and June 2001, with precipitation of only
79.9 mm. This was a pitiful 54.1% of 147.6mm during the same period last 2000, and27.1% of the established average of 294.3mm. In particular, the rate of storage in thecase of reservoir for agricultural water was only 69% of the established average.
Moreover, 359,000 people in 84 cities and counties nationwide were subjected tocontrolled or transported water supply on 16 June 2001. Sufficient supply of agricultural
water was virtually impossible at that time.

4.2 Drought Countermeasures

4.2.1 Development of Technique for Estimating Demand for Water andEstablishment of a Systematic Plan for the Supply and Demand of Water

6

Designing a systematic, stable, and integrated plan for the supply and demand ofwater nationwide or regionally requires objective and reliable information on the total
amount of water demand, using an accurate and practical estimation model ofcalculating water demand. The surplus or deficiency of water is calculated by analyzing
the water balance through the river system. The deficiency will only be resolved
through a long-term integrated plan for securing water resources. In the late 1996, theKorean government proposed a long-term integrated plan (1997 - 2011) for securing
water resources. While the plan included prospects for the supply and demand of water
all over the country, it was based only on the standard of the normal time. Therefore, theplan should consider the amount of water demand and shortage caused by unpredictabledroughts. Only then can Korea have scientific and practical prospects andcorresponding countermeasures for water shortage.

4.2.2 Construction of Small and Medium Multi-Purpose Dams and Small WaterExclusive Dams and Expanded Development of Multi-Regional Water Supply
SystemTable 2 shows the 13 existing multi-purpose dams in Korea, e.g., Soyanggang
Dam, Chungju Dam, Heongseong Dam in the Han River, Andong Dam, Namgang Dam,
Hancheon Dam, and Imha Dam in the Nakdong River, Daecheong Dam and Yongdam
Dam in the Geum River, Seomjingang Dam and Juam Dam in the Seomjin River, andMilyang Dam and Buan Dam in other rivers. The water supply capacity of these dams isapproximately 10.641 billion m3, with their flood control capacity at about 2.18 billion
m3. In addition, annual flood control capacity of the ten power generation dams is 276
million m3. In terms of the annual effective storage water capacity, 16 water-exclusive
dams including Youngcheon and Unmun maintain 767 million m3. On the other hand,
29 agricultural water reservoirs including Jangseong and Damyang secure more than ten
million m3 and 5 river mouth dams in the Nakdong River and the Geum River have anannual water supply capacity of 3,363 million m3.
In the future, there is a need to continuously develop and secure water resources
to satisfy the expected demand for water in this millennium. As such, there is a need toinvestigate for several candidate areas where small and medium multi-purpose dams
and small water-exclusive dams can be constructed. Implementation of this plan should

7

ensure minimal destruction of animal and plant habitats and avoid environmental
devastation and disruption of the ecosystem between the upper stream and the lower
reaches, which are caused by submergence and dam construction. Thus, it is importantto formulate a plan for environment-friendly dam construction. In addition, the plan fordam construction should consider the residents living within the vicinity. The
government should extend assistance to residents concerned by upholding their welfare
and including income-generating activities for them.
(Unit: 106m3/year)

Table 2. Present conditions of multipurpose dam.
WatershedRiver

Size (m)Storage

area

Dam

2

(Km )

Han

Nakdong

MilyangPowerstorage generation

Effect of project
Flood

Water

capacity (10 KW)

control

supply12,272.5

8,522.9

1,041.4

2,179.3

10,641.3

Height Length capacity

Total

Useable3

PeriodSoyanggang

2,703

123

530

2,900

1,900

200

500

1,213

`67-`73

Chungju

6,648

98

447

2,750

1,789

412.0

616

3,380

`78-`86

Heongseong

209

48.5

205

86.9

73.4

1

9.5

111.6

`91-`00

Andong

1,584

83

612

1,248

1,000

90

110

926

`71-`77

Imha

1,361

73

515

595

424

50

80

592

`84-`93

Hapcheon

925

96

472

790

560

101.2

80

599

`82-`89

Namgang

2,285

34

1126

309

299.7

14

269.8

573.3

`87-`99

Milyang

95.4

89

535

73.6

69.8

1.3

6

73

`91-`01

Gaecheong

4,134

72

495

1,490

790

90

250

1,649

`75-`81

Yongdam

930

70

498

815

672

24.4

137

650.4

`91-`01

Seomjingang

763

64

344

466

347

34.8

32

350

`60-`65

Juam

1,010

58

330

707

562

22.5

80

489

`84-`92

Buan

59

50

280

42

36

0.2

9

35

`91-`96

Geum

Seomjin
Gikso

Source: Water Vision 2020, Water Resources Corporation, Korea, 2001.12

Currently, the Korean government shoulders 20,000–30,000 million won in
korean currency of the business expenses for peripheral region arrangement per dam
construction. It aims to promote regional economic development in the dam peripheralarea, prepare a housing site and agricultural land, and realize flood control works.
Likewise, the government shoulders 800 million won – 1 billion won of the assistancebusiness expenses for peripheral regions upon completion of the dam construction. The

8funds are normally used for the construction of farm roads, expansion and pavement ofroads, small water supply systems, and village halls.
In particular, securing the stable supply of water in the seaside and some regions
where the dam cannot be constructed require medium-term and long-term plans for
multi-regional water supply systems. The systematic implementation of this plan willallow the supply of water to reach almost all farming and fishing villages. The multiregional water supply system transcends a single river system or an administrative
district, thereby achieving the systematic integration of several cities that have difficulty
securing their own water resources regionally. As of 1994, the multi-regional watersupply systems have a supply rate of about 82%. Thus, a long-term plan for its
expansion is critical.

4.2.3

Development

Reclamation

and

of

GroundReusing

Water,

System,Groundwater
and

Sea

Dam,

Water

Wastewater

DesalinationasSupplementary Water Resources
Korea primarily needs a scientific and systematic ground water development.
The annual amount of ground water utilization has been gradually increasing, i.e., 2.6
billion m3 in 1994, 2.9 billion m3 in 1996, and 3.7 billion m3 in 1998. Nonetheless, theutilization rate is much lower (about 10% of the total amount of water utilization)compared to the United States (20%) and France (19%). As such, a measure for
efficient ground water development and management is necessary. This chiefly requires
accurate investigation on the amount of natural ground water resources, condition of its
utilization, and current state of water quality pollution.
In addition, Korea needs to construct groundwater dams. The groundwater dam
is referred to as a curtain wall that allows utilization of the riverbed and ground waters.
This is an undercurrent dam basically constructed underground. This dam has several
advantages compared to the general reservoir, e.g., prevents evaporation loss, eliminates
possibilities for environmental damage, poses no problems with residents living nearby,
and incurs relatively less compensation cost for residents concerned. However, it has
some disadvantages such as higher maintenance cost and difficulty for getting a large
amount of water at the same time. In 1983, a groundwater dam was constructed as amodel project for the supply of agricultural water for the first time in Korea. A total of9

20 groundwater dams have been built since then, with 0.3 million m3 of the total
pumping water. In the future, Korea needs to investigate for several appropriate areas
for the construction of groundwater dams and continue such construction.
Moreover, Korea needs to install several wastewater reclamation and reusing
systems. The wastewater reclamation system is designed to produce water for flush
toilet, cleaning, sprinkling, car washing, and factory through the treatment of used water.
Introducing this system may reduce the amount of tap water utilization and the amountof sewerage, which will consequently result in cost reduction for the construction of
filtration and sewage treatment plants and water treatment. Likewise, this system will
also contribute to the prevention of water quality pollution. As of late 1997, Korea has
59 existing wastewater reclamation and reusing systems in several building sites
including Lotte World in Seoul, Samsung Electronics in Suwon, Main Office ofPOSCO in Seoul, and apartment complexes. This system needs to be installed in moreareas.
Finally, Korea needs seawater desalination. The production unit cost ofdesalinated water per m3 is 1500-3000 won. This is 3-6 times higher than the production
unit cost of tap water, 499 won. Its higher production cost notwithstanding, the seawater
desalination system should be built in many seaside areas and islands. Similarly, thetechnique to reduce production cost should be developed. Korea currently has 26
existing seawater desalination systems, 22 of which are used for city water with asupply capacity of 3 m3-500 m3 per day. The remaining four are used for factory waterwith a supply capacity of 4,800 m3- 70,000 m3. The Korean government plans to build
41 additional seawater desalination systems.

4.2.4 Combined Management of Dams within River Systems and Development andOperation of Water Resources Information System

Multi-purpose dams are used for the supply of various kinds of waters, flood
control, and hydraulic power generation. Similarly, agricultural water and hydraulicpower generation dams have their own single purposes. However, agricultural water andhydraulic power generation dams within a single river system should be converted into10

multi-purpose dams during drought. They should be operated through combined
management in order to increase the amount of water supply.
In addition, various water-related information should be easily available in realtime through the development of an integrated water resources management system.
This will enable the improvement of water utilization in the upper stream and lower
reaches of rivers. The proposed integrated water resources management system should
includethecomputerizationofdrought-related

information,

supplementarydevelopment of the flow model for the dry season, and development and managementof a drought forecast model.

4.2.5 Implementation of Policies for Water Saving
Various measures should be applied for controlling water utilization. As such,
Korea needs relevant official policies. In fact, the implementation of proper policies forthe management of the demand for water is equally important as the development of
new water resources to cope with the demand for water. In particular, such policies are
known to have a highly positive effect during the dry season.
For one, the water rates should be adjusted to a realistic level. This is a practicalway of preventing excessive water utilization and preparing funds for the constructionof water-related facilities. Currently, the price of water is set at 70% - 74% of
production costs. Water is unnecessarily wasted due to such low price. Likewise, relatedsocial expenses are increasing.
Table 3 shows that the average charge of household water in the city as of 30
December 1999 is 240 won per m3, which is 1/2-1/8 of that of most countries. Such low
water charge is due to the public concern about the negative impact of water charge
increase on the prices of goods. In reality, this concern is basically unfounded. A 1%
increase in water charge is expected to bring about only a negligible 0.0007% additional
expense (13 won) to the monthly household expenditure. While the low price of water isfavorable to the general consumers, it results in the insufficient recovery of the
production cost. Thus, the ensuing outcomes are very undesirable, e.g., delay in thecapital infusion for the renovation of old facilities, difficulty in the improvement ofwater quality, and deterioration of the competitiveness of tap water. In turn, these will
result in the lack of confidence of the general public on government policies and public

11utility businesses.

Table 3. Comparative table of water rate according to nation (Based life water)(Unit: won/m3)
Division

Korea

ItaliaU.S.A

Australia

Japan

U.K

FranceGermany

Water rate

240.4

584

664

871

1,374

1,638

1,710

1,936

Comparative (Ratio)

1

2.4

2.8

3.6

5.7

6.8

7.5

8.1

Source: '98 Water supply statistics, MOE, Korea, 1999. 1$=1,145.4 won (Dec. 30,
1999)

Likewise, equipment for water saving should be developed and extensively
supplied. Such equipment include tap, showerhead, toilet bowl, washing machine, anddishwasher. Towards this end, relevant housing and construction laws and regulations
should be revised. Other measures include improvement of the rate of water utilization
through the early replacement of old water pipes; promotion of the importance of water
and water saving to the general public; the improvement of the withdrawal rate offactory water; construction of a system for the re-use of agricultural water; and official
policies that seek the high utilization of water through the re-use of return flow.

5. Conclusion
While Korea has produced many positive results in the development,utilization, and management of water resources, it has faced quantitative and qualitative
water-related crises. Specifically, it faces problems of water shortage and deteriorationof the quality of river water resulting from the explosive increase in the demand forwater. Such increase in the demand for water is caused by population expansion, rapid
urbanization, and industrialization.
For years, water-related international organizations have pointed out that water
shortage and global warming are two of the most critical environmental problems in the
global society for this millennium. Over the last two decades in particular, many
countries including Korea, Japan, the United States, Australia, and several countries inAfrica have suffered from severe droughts. Likewise, there are widespread worries ofthe entire globe suffering from water crisis during the early period of this millennium. A

12huge number of people are expected to experience disastrous water shortage. Korea isalso expected to face severe water shortage in the near future.
Given the negative water-related prospects and reality, Korea should fully
prepare to secure enough water resources and overcome droughts. Towards this end, theaforementioned systematic plan and practices should be established and pursued.

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Resources Planning and Management, Korea Institute of Construction andTechnology.
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Korea Water Resources Corporation (2001). Investigation Report of Drought in Korea.
Lee, S. H. (1995). Several suggestion for the Prevention of Drought, Journal of Korea
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Lee, S H. (2002). Development and Utilization of Water Resources in Korea, SupremeManager Course for the Professional Workers, Chungbuk National University.
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