Yeongsangang Cheong Takes Initiative in Managing Water Source Protection Areas with Local Residents

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Gwan-woo] The Yeongsangang River Basin Environmental Office announced on the 6th that it will manage the land purchased to preserve the water quality of five major water sources, including Juam Lake, together with local residents.

Since 2003, the Yeongsangang Office has been purchasing pollution sources located in the upper watershed areas such as water source protection zones and waterfront zones using the watershed management fund, and so far has acquired 20.1㎢ of land out of a total target area of 689.1㎢.

The purchased land is being developed into waterfront green spaces, and activities such as weed removal are carried out to improve the scenery and alleviate inconveniences for residents.

Since 2018, a “Local Resident Participation-Type Purchased Land Management Project,” where local residents directly participate in weed removal and other activities with a budget of 60 million KRW involving eight organizations, has been underway. This initiative has received much positive feedback as a new income-generating case and has been gradually expanded every year.

This year, 42 resident organizations meeting certain qualification criteria, located within the land purchase target areas of eight cities and counties including Gangjin-gun, will be selected to carry out the project with a budget of approximately 610 million KRW.

The project scale was determined by allocating one organization per 0.5㎢ of management area by city/county based on the land management area (20.1㎢) as of the end of last year, and even cities/counties with less than 0.5㎢ were allocated one organization.

This decision was made to improve the previous allocation method of one organization per 1㎢ of management area by city/county, which was criticized for not meeting the local residents’ demands for expanded participation. It is expected to contribute to increasing the satisfaction of local residents wishing to participate more actively.

Director Ryu Yeon-gi said, “By having local residents directly participate in the management of purchased land, it will greatly help achieve the important goals of creating rural jobs, improving water quality of water sources, and realizing carbon neutrality.” He added, “We will continue to expand opportunities for local residents to participate in land management so that more benefits can be returned to the local community.”

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