Gyeonggi Province will operate 'Groundwater Conservation Management Monitors' in eight cities and counties, including Hwaseong City, to sustainably conserve and manage groundwater, becoming the first metropolitan local government to do so.
Although the permitting and management of groundwater facilities are the responsibilities of city and county officials, they have faced difficulties in management due to a shortage of personnel relative to the number of facilities.
Accordingly, Gyeonggi Province plans to support 11 Groundwater Conservation Management Monitors in eight cities and counties?Hwaseong, Namyangju, Gwangju, Icheon, Anseong, Yeoju, Dongducheon, and Yangpyeong?to conduct on-site investigations of groundwater facilities and promptly identify and address issues such as unregistered groundwater facilities.
In addition, in connection with the Groundwater Conservation Management Monitor project, a project to restore abandoned wells to their original state will also be promoted.
Abandoned wells, left unused after development failures or the end of their use, have been identified as a cause of groundwater contamination. Groundwater Conservation Management Monitors dispatched to the field will discover these abandoned wells and carry out restoration to prevent groundwater pollution.
Gyeonggi Province plans to pilot the Groundwater Conservation Management Monitor and abandoned well restoration projects this year through demand surveys conducted in cities and counties, and improve the projects through monitoring.
Jo Chi-hyung, Director of the Water Quality Management Division of Gyeonggi Province, said, "Reflecting the voices from the field, we have become the first metropolitan local government to operate Groundwater Conservation Management Monitors," adding, "We will strive to manage groundwater so that all residents can enjoy clean and safe groundwater by working hard to preserve groundwater resources."
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