"Daecheong and Boryeong Dams Have Reached Their Limits...
Securing New Water Sources Is Urgent"
Kim Taeheum, Governor of Chungnam Province, has requested the government to expedite the construction of the Cheongyang·Buyeo Jicheon Dam.
On May 22, at the Government Complex Sejong, Governor Kim met with Minister of Environment Kim Wansub and explained, "The Daecheong Dam and Boryeong Dam, which are the main water sources for Chungnam, have already reached their limits. Cheongyang County and Buyeo County rely on these dams for most of their water supply, making it urgent to secure new water sources."
He also requested the following: prompt implementation of the Jicheon Climate Response Dam project; establishment of a plant biomass recycling center within the Chungnam Public Industrial Waste Landfill; approval of the preliminary feasibility study and inclusion of national funding for the Chungnam Central Region Multi-regional Water Supply Dual Pipeline Project; and early implementation of the Boryeong Dam multi-regional water supply pipeline renovation project.
The Jicheon Dam is planned to be built with a storage capacity of 59 million cubic meters in the areas of Jangpyeong-myeon, Cheongyang County, and Eunsan-myeon, Buyeo County.
This represents 4% of the capacity of Daecheong Dam (1.49 billion cubic meters) and 50% of the capacity of Boryeong Dam (117 million cubic meters). Once operational, it will be able to supply 110,000 cubic meters of water per day, enough for 380,000 people.
Governor Kim stated, "The downstream area of Jicheon has experienced flooding for three consecutive years since 2022, causing extensive farmland inundation and property damage due to river overflows," and requested, "Please expedite the procedures related to the Jicheon Dam to overcome the water crisis and secure regional growth drivers."
The plan for the plant biomass recycling center is to invest 6 billion KRW in national and provincial funds to establish it within the Chungnam Public Industrial Waste Landfill in the Seocheon Janghang National Ecological Industrial Complex.
Governor Kim said, "Every year during heavy rains, the Geumgang Estuary in Seocheon suffers disasters as marine debris washed down from upstream covers the coastline. However, because there are different responsible agencies for each watershed and budgets are insufficient, only a part of the debris is being processed," and requested national funding support for the establishment of the plant biomass recycling center.
The Chungnam Central Region Multi-regional Water Supply Dual Pipeline Project involves investing 135.7 billion KRW from next year until 2032 to install a dual pipeline (38.1 kilometers) and expand pumping stations in three cities and counties: Gongju, Nonsan, and Buyeo.
Governor Kim explained, "The current single pipeline for the central region's multi-regional water supply makes water outages inevitable in the event of an accident, so dualization is necessary to ensure a stable water supply," and requested the approval of the preliminary feasibility study and the allocation of 3.8 billion KRW in national funding for next year.
He also emphasized, "The Boryeong Dam multi-regional water supply pipeline renovation project will invest 626 billion KRW to replace pipelines that have been in use for over 20 years, including those between Hongseong and Seosan Pumping Station, and between Boryeong Water Purification Plant and Hongseong Pumping Station. In November last year, a valve failure caused by aging pipes in the Boryeong Dam multi-regional water supply line resulted in a three-day water outage affecting over 300,000 residents in four cities and counties, increasing concerns about further outages due to pipeline aging."
He further requested, "Please begin the Boryeong Dam multi-regional water supply pipeline renovation project, currently scheduled in the National Waterworks Master Plan for after 2032, from next year."
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