Regulations on Restaurants in Paldang Watershed Protection Area to Be Eased

Restrictions on restaurants in the Paldang water source protection area in Gyeonggi-do will be eased.

On the 20th, Gyeonggi-do announced the ‘Designation of Areas with Relaxed Activity Restrictions within the Environmental Maintenance Zones of Gwangju City’ and the ‘Designation of Areas with Relaxed Activity Restrictions within the Environmental Maintenance Zones of Yangpyeong County’ through the Gyeonggi-do website (gg.go.kr).

Currently, restaurant permits are generally not allowed in water source protection areas, but in environmental maintenance zones designated as public sewage treatment areas, changes of use to restaurants are permitted for original residents within 5% of the total number of households and within a floor area of 100㎡.

In this announcement, for the public sewage treatment area in Bunwon, Gwangju City, the restaurant ratio was relaxed to within 10% of the total number of households, and the restaurant floor area was relaxed to a total floor area of 150㎡. In the public sewage treatment areas of Yangseo and Guksu in Yangpyeong County, changes of use to restaurants are now allowed up to 10% of the total number of households, but the floor area remains the same as before at 100㎡.

Panoramic view of Paldang Water Source Protection Area. Provided by Gyeonggi Provincial Government.

This relaxation measure was significantly influenced by the quality of the discharged water from the public sewage treatment plants. If the discharged water quality is below 50% of the standard, the restaurant ratio can be expanded to 10% of the total number of households or the floor area to 150㎡, and if the water quality is below 25% of the standard, both the ratio and area can be expanded. The relevant sewage treatment plants were designated as relaxation areas because they met the standards by measuring water quality once a week for six months from March to September.

This is the result of Gyeonggi-do leading the revision of the Water Source Management Regulations last August, following recommendations from the Ministry of Environment and continuous consultations with the downstream local governments of Paldang, Seoul and Incheon, to flexibly apply the allowable ratio and area of restaurants in water source protection areas according to the level of water pollution treatment.

Accordingly, the Bunwon environmental maintenance zone in Gwangju City will be the first to apply the relaxed regulations on both restaurant ratio and area after the revision of the Water Source Management Regulations. The Yangseo and Guksu environmental maintenance zones in Yangpyeong County will apply the restaurant regulation relaxation for the first time in 11 years since being designated as environmental maintenance zones in 2013.

Yoon Deok-hee, head of the Gyeonggi-do Water Resources Headquarters, said, "The designation of areas with relaxed activity restrictions is a measure to improve the living environment of residents in water source protection areas," and added, "We will continue to consult with related agencies considering the balance between deregulation and water quality preservation."