Yeongsangang Cheong, Performance Evaluation of 'Watershed Management Fund Support Project' for Cities and Counties

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] The Yeongsangang River Basin Environmental Office (Director Ryu Yeon-gi) announced on the 3rd that it will evaluate the performance of the '2019 Fiscal Year Yeongsangang and Seomjingang Watershed Management Fund Support Project' targeting 22 cities and counties in the jurisdiction until November.

The Yeongsangang Office plans to focus on evaluating nine items including budget allocation, appropriateness of project planning, efficiency of budget execution, and project management status for four support projects: resident support projects (13.8 billion KRW), environmental basic facility installation projects (17.8 billion KRW), environmental basic facility operation projects (3.4 billion KRW), and total pollution load management projects (1.5 billion KRW).

To ensure fairness and objectivity in the performance evaluation, a practical evaluation team and an evaluation committee will be formed to review and analyze project implementation materials, conduct on-site investigations, and the evaluation committee, consisting of six external experts, will make the final deliberation and confirmation of outstanding institutions.

As a result of the evaluation, excellent local governments will be provided with incentives such as prize money (totaling 10 million KRW) and budget increases, while underperforming local governments will be given penalties such as preparing improvement plans and budget cuts for related projects.

To enhance awareness and strengthen the capabilities of local government officials, regional training on data preparation and evaluation methods will be conducted in June to assist with the evaluation.

Im Su-young, Director of the Watershed Management Bureau at the Yeongsangang River Basin Environmental Office, said, "We hope that the performance evaluation of the fund projects will serve as an opportunity to enhance the substance of resident support projects in upstream water source areas, transparency in fund management, and the efficiency of projects."

Meanwhile, the watershed management fund project has been implemented since 2002 to promote resident support projects in upstream water source areas and water quality improvement projects in the watershed.

The watershed management fund was created from water usage charges (170 KRW per ton) paid by residents in downstream areas supplied with water from water sources such as Juamho. In 2019, 83.7 billion KRW was used for resident support projects in upstream areas subject to various regulations for water source protection, installation of environmental basic facilities, and water quality improvement in the Yeongsangang, Seomjingang, and Tamjingang watersheds.

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