Han River Power Dam to Be Used for Water Supply and Flood Control for the First Time in 76 Years

Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and Ministry of Environment Jointly Work on Efficient Water Management for Drought and Flood Preparedness
Signing and Operation of 'Agreement for Multipurpose Use of Han River Basin Development Dams'

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The government announced that for the first time in 76 years, power generation dams will be utilized not only for power generation but also for various purposes such as water supply and flood control.

On the 31st, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Ministry of Environment stated that as part of integrated water management to prepare for droughts and floods, they decided to utilize power generation dams. They agreed on the need to improve water management due to climate change.

Currently, the water stored in power generation dams is released solely for power generation purposes. The multipurpose dams in the Han River basin, responsible for drinking and industrial water supply in the metropolitan area, have only about 400 million cubic meters of surplus water left, so securing additional water sources is necessary. As of last year, the contracted amount compared to the supply capacity for domestic and industrial water from the Chungju and Soyanggang dams is 90%. The supply capacity is 4 billion cubic meters per year, and the contracted amount is 3.6 billion cubic meters per year.

Accordingly, to enable efficient water management by utilizing power generation dams, the government plans to sign an "Agreement for Multipurpose Utilization of Power Generation Dams in the Han River Basin" on the 1st of next month between the Han River Flood Control Office under the Ministry of Environment and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, a public enterprise under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The government emphasized that this agreement establishes a joint cooperation system reflecting the government's and public institutions' commitment to efficient water management by using power generation dams for power generation as well as water supply and flood control.

Since its completion in 1944, Hwacheon Dam has been operated mainly for power generation for 76 years. Going forward, the dam will be operated multipurposely by supplying dam water considering downstream river water supply conditions during normal times and controlling floods through storage during flood events. The government expects that operating Hwacheon Dam like a multipurpose dam will maintain the dam water level higher than now, enabling stable water supply to the metropolitan area during droughts. It is also expected to respond to additional demand.

Operating Hwacheon Dam on the Bukhan River in conjunction with Chungju Dam on the Namhan River is expected to strengthen flood control capacity in the Namhan River basin and help prevent flood damage in the lower Namhan and Han River areas. The flood control capacity of the Namhan River basin, where Chungju Dam is located, is 630 million cubic meters, which is less than the 3.39 billion cubic meters of the Bukhan River, making it vulnerable to floods. When floods occur, utilizing Hwacheon Dam on the Bukhan River allows lowering the water level operation of Chungju Dam on the Namhan River.

The agreement specifically includes ▲the government (Han River Flood Control Office) establishing operation plans for power generation dams and coordinated operation plans between power generation dams and multipurpose dams, ▲Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power operating sluice gates and coordinating operations between power generation dams and multipurpose dams according to the plans, and ▲pilot operations of Hwacheon and Paldang dams to analyze the effects on water supply and flood control. The government will start full-scale operations from May.

Kim Dongjin, Director of the Water Resources Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Environment, stated, "With this agreement, we can efficiently utilize existing power generation dams to actively respond to future water demand in the metropolitan area and flexibly cope with the increasingly frequent droughts and floods."