Yeongsangang Environmental Office to Intensively Purchase Pollutants from Metropolitan Water Sources

164 Billion Won Invested... Conducted in First and Second Half of the Year

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Yoon Jamin] The Yeongsan River Basin Environmental Office (Director Kim Sang-hoon) announced on the 3rd that it plans to focus on purchasing pollution sources such as land in the upper watershed areas to preserve the water quality of five metropolitan water source dams in Gwangju and Jeonnam (Juamho, Dongbokho, Sangsaho, Suoho, Tamjinho).

A total of 16.4 billion KRW from the watershed management fund will be invested in purchasing pollution sources.

The land purchase project has been ongoing since 2003 to preserve the water quality of metropolitan water sources by purchasing lands with high pollution loads such as livestock farms located upstream of the dams and converting them into riparian green spaces and non-point source reduction facilities.

So far, out of the total target land area of 689.1㎢, 19.1㎢ (approximately 6.6 times the size of Yeouido) has been purchased. The purchased land is cleared of buildings and developed into riparian ecological belts, which are operated as ecological learning centers and other facilities.

Land purchases are conducted twice a year, in the first and second halves. The final selection of target lands is based on factors such as the distance from the water source inflow streams, the degree of pollution load generation, and willingness to negotiate purchase among the applied lands.

Last month, the target lands were selected and consultations with the relevant local governments were conducted. By next month, on-site investigations will be completed, followed by appraisals in April and May. If the sellers wish to sell at the appraised price, sales contracts are planned to be signed in June.

In the second half of the year, the purchase procedures for the remaining budget will proceed starting in August.

Those wishing to apply for land sales should fill out the land sale application form and submit it by mail or visit the Water Source Management Division of the Yeongsan River Office.

In particular, this year’s land purchase project plans to manage pollution sources more efficiently by prioritizing the purchase of livestock farms, which are high-concentration pollution sources, by raising the priority scoring for livestock farms and promoting exchanges between already purchased lands and livestock farms within the water source management area, departing from the existing purchase methods.

Additionally, the office will operate a “Visiting On-site Civil Complaint Office” to improve administrative accessibility for local residents and continuously strive to provide better environmental administrative services by forming consensus with local residents through one-on-one customized information provision.

Kim Sang-hoon, Director of the Yeongsan River Basin Environmental Office, said, “We will do our best to ensure that all environmental policies implemented this year, including the land purchase project, yield results that the public can feel. We ask local residents to actively participate in creating clean water sources that everyone can safely drink.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.