hankyoreh

By Nam Jong-young　
　　
Overseas river experts had words of caution about the potential side effects of the Lee Myung-bak administration’s multi-billion dollar Four Major Rivers Restoration Project, which is currently nearing completion. Preventing river hazards would require “the exact opposite” of the current project, experts warned.
Professors’ Organization for Movement against the Grand Korean Canal presented a statement of expert opinion Monday based on the responses of overseas river experts on a question about their assessment and predictions regarding the project as it nears completion.
The experts included Prof. Hans Bernhart of the University of Karlsruhe in Germany, Prof. Hirotake Imamoto of Japan’s Kyoto University, Profs. Matt Kondolf and Randolph Hester of the University of California, Berkeley, and Alfons Henrichfreise of Germany’s Federal Agency for Nature Conservation. Each of them has conducted on-site studies of the project.
The experts unanimously said the project, with its emphasis on dredging and the building of large weirs, is based on the previous century’s river hydraulics and is a far cry from restoration. Citing the experiences from their home countries, Henrichfreise said that construction effort with dredging and weir building would not succeeded in restoring the river or its floodplain functions, while Hester said it would merely wreak havoc on an essential process of nature.
The experts predicted that the four rivers would face future side effects including increased flood risk, lower river and underground water quality, and soil inundation with variations in underground water levels.
The advanced river management method suggested by the experts was one of minimizing artificial installations and returning the river’s spaces to the river. Hester said the U.S. is currently spending trillions of dollars to reverse changes to its own rivers along the lines of the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project in the early 20th century.
Hester explained that while people initially appreciated the new leisure opportunity, this was quickly followed by more severe flooding, filling dams with sediment, declining tourism, the pollution of water resources, and the disappearance of fish from the waters.
The project merely foisted a burden of restoration costs on taxpayers, Hester added.
　　　
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