"No Drought Due to Water Shortage Expected Until Rice Planting Season in June"

Both Rainfall and Reservoir Levels Are Favorable

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Although dry weather continues nationwide, rainfall and reservoir levels are significantly higher than usual, so it is expected that there will be no drought caused by water shortages until the rice planting season in June.

According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Ministry of Environment, and Korea Meteorological Administration on the 9th, the cumulative rainfall from early January to early April this year was 160.5 mm, reaching 127.7% of the average.

Even when extending the period to the past six months, the cumulative rainfall was 275.9 mm, which is 113.3% of the average.

As of the 6th, the nationwide reservoir levels recorded much higher than average: reservoirs at 118%, multipurpose dams at 152%, and water supply dams at 168%.

Accordingly, although rainfall until June is expected to be similar to or less than average, the high reservoir levels mean that water supply will be smoothly maintained until the full-scale rice planting season, according to related government agencies.

However, since annual rainfall is variable and there have been past cases of damage due to insufficient spring rainfall, the government plans to thoroughly implement pre-management measures such as pumping and storage in preparation for the rice planting season.

In particular, Boryeong Dam in Chungnam, where there is concern about the issuance of a 'watch' level drought crisis alert in May, will be continuously managed to allow immediate adjustment of water supply, and a metropolitan water supply system installation will be promoted by 2022 to establish a stable water supply system.

Lee Woo-jong, Disaster Response Policy Officer at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, said, "As the entire nation is facing difficulties due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the government will prepare more thoroughly to prevent hardships caused by water shortages from worsening."

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