K-water Enabled to Manage Water Quality Upstream of Dams... Amendment to Dam Construction Act Enforcement Decree

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The Korea Water Resources Corporation has established a legal basis to implement water environment management projects in the upstream areas of dams.

The Ministry of Environment announced that the amendment to the "Enforcement Decree of the Dam Construction and Surrounding Area Support Act (Dam Construction Act)," which includes key provisions such as improving dam water quality and establishing a field-centered dam management system, was approved at the Cabinet meeting on the 3rd. The amended enforcement decree is expected to be promulgated and come into effect immediately within this month.

The main contents of the recently approved enforcement decree of the Dam Construction Act are as follows.

First, the "scope of the dam upstream area" and the "types of water environment management projects" were newly established.

Based on the Dam Construction Act, dam management authorities (Ministry of Environment, mayors and governors, etc.) or dam entrusted managers (Korea Water Resources Corporation) are now legally authorized to implement water environment management projects in the upstream areas of dams for dam management purposes.

The scope of the dam upstream area and the types of water environment management projects were aligned to follow Article 14 of the Enforcement Decree of the Korea Water Resources Corporation Act to ensure consistency between laws.

The scope of the dam upstream area refers to the region within the small watershed under the Water Environment Conservation Act that includes the dam's planned flood level line and the area designated by the Minister of Environment as necessary for preserving the water quality of the dam reservoir.

The types of water environment management projects include ▲ installation, operation, and management of sewage systems (limited to delegated tasks) ▲ non-point source pollution reduction projects ▲ installation and operation of water pollution prevention facilities, among others.

Regulations regarding the management affairs of dam national property were also improved.

The management affairs related to dam national property, previously under the regulations on delegation and consignment of administrative authority, were transferred to the "Enforcement Decree of the Dam Construction Act."

Additionally, among the dam national property management tasks currently under the authority of the Minister of Environment, some execution-related tasks that are more efficient to review and decide on-site have been delegated to the heads of local environmental offices.

The procedure for collecting residents' opinions on support projects in dam surrounding areas has been made mandatory.

Regulations related to the disposal matters of dam entrusted managers were also improved.

Although the Korea Water Resources Corporation is required to consult with the river management authorities (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport or mayors and governors) in advance when disposing of river occupancy permits within the dam reservoir area, it is now also required to consult with the heads of local environmental offices to prevent indiscriminate occupancy permits and to proactively prevent dam water pollution.

Furthermore, the authority to designate prohibited areas for activities such as fishing within the dam reservoir area has been transferred from the Korea Water Resources Corporation to mayors and governors to enhance the effectiveness of the designation system.

Kim Dong-jin, Director of the Water Resources Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Environment, stated, "The amendment to the enforcement decree of the Dam Construction Act has laid the foundation for improving dam water quality and establishing an integrated field-centered dam water quantity and quality management system," adding, "We expect synergistic effects through collaboration between the Korea Water Resources Corporation and local and watershed environmental offices."

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