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Doam Dam in Pyeongchang

A prominent South Korean environmental group has launched a campaign to open or demolish dams, weirs, and estuary embankments that it sees as useless or destructive to the environment.

“Many of [South Korea’s] 19,000 or so dams, weirs, and estuary embankments are antiquated or decommissioned, which means they stand to have a negative impact on the environment,” said Korean Federation for Environmental Movement (KFEM) secretary-general Yeom Hyung-chul on Mar. 16.

“We plan to look at the most problematic ones first and develop plans for opening them up or clearing them away,” Yeom added.

KFEM and the Korea Water Resources Corporation (K-water) are currently planning to hold a debate on the topic at the National Assembly members’ hall on Mar. 17.

South Korea currently has 1,308 dams of 15 meters or higher, along with around 18,000 weirs and three estuary embankments. 317 of its 540 large Type 1 and 2 dams, or 58.7%, were built over 30 years ago.

An example is Doam Dam in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province. Built in 1991 to provide hydroelectric power, it ended up causing water quality problems that led to contamination of downstream Namdae River in Gangneung. Civic groups and the local government called for an end to power services, which were finally discontinued in 2001. Local residents have called for the dam’s permanent closure, but the central government has held out with plans to improve the water quality and resume its use.

An estuary embankment built on the Nakdong River in Busan in 1987 to provide water for farming has since been cited as a factor in the disappearance of migratory birds, as well as marsh clams and other aquatic organisms, and the deterioration of water resource quality. Busan Mayor Suh Byung-soo has pledged to fully open the embankment back up between 2017 and 2025.

Singok Weir on the lower west Han River in Seoul has similarly caused issues with water contamination and the disappearance of local fauna since its 1988 construction.

By Kim Kyu-won, staff reporter

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