Consultative Body Launches Full-Scale Activities
Aiming to Secure 10,000 m³/Day of Alternative Groundwater Sources by September
Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province (Governor Kim Jin-tae) announced that, as a follow-up to the emergency countermeasure meeting on securing water resources for Gangneung held at the provincial government’s second office building on September 7, a 'public-private-military consultative body' has been established. The first meeting (kick-off meeting) will be held on September 16, marking the official start of its activities.
A panoramic view of Gangwon Provincial Government Building. Provided by Gangwon Provincial Government.
The consultative body, chaired by Yoon Seung-gi, Director of the Provincial Forest and Environment Bureau, includes experts from the Ministry of National Defense, Korea Rural Community Corporation, Korea Electric Power Corporation, and the Korea Drilling and Survey Association. The group will focus on securing alternative water sources by utilizing groundwater.
The main initiatives are to develop new groundwater wells (5,000 cubic meters per day) and to temporarily convert existing large-scale groundwater wells with good water quality for emergency use (5,000 cubic meters per day), aiming to supply a total of 10,000 tons per day.
To this end, three groundwater exploration teams (six members) will be deployed near the Obong Reservoir and Hongje Water Purification Plant, and ten drilling machines will be mobilized to begin emergency exploration and development.
According to the Gangwon Province Groundwater Management Plan (2016-2025), the potential groundwater development volume in the Gangneung area is 146 million tons per year, but only 30 million tons per year are currently used-just 20%-indicating significant potential for further development.
The province also plans to review mid- and long-term measures such as seawater desalination and underground reservoir dam projects in parallel with groundwater development, in order to establish future drought disaster prevention strategies.
Vice Governor for Administrative Affairs Yeo Jung-hyup stated, "Even small streams together become a river. Through the cooperation of the public, private, and military sectors, we will swiftly secure additional water that people can truly feel, accelerating efforts to overcome the drought."
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