"June Rainfall Half of Average... Nationwide Drought Expected to Ease in July"

Ministry of the Interior and Safety: "No Issues Expected in Supplying Agricultural Water for Domestic and Industrial Use"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The government announced on the 14th that although recent rains have somewhat alleviated drought conditions in fields, meteorological drought continues nationwide with the accumulated rainfall over six months at about half the normal level.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety stated, "The average water storage rate of agricultural reservoirs is at 89.6% of the normal level (as of the 8th), and rice planting is entering its final stage, so except for rain-fed paddies and island areas, there is expected to be no major disruption in agricultural water supply. However, drought in some field areas continues," adding, "Multipurpose dams are at 101.0%, and water supply dams at 73.3%, so there is expected to be no difficulty in supplying water for domestic and industrial use."

The nationwide accumulated rainfall over the past six months is 199.7 mm, which is 57.3% of the normal level. Rainfall is expected to be generally similar to normal until August, so meteorological drought is expected to gradually ease from late June and mostly resolve by July.

The average water storage rate of agricultural reservoirs nationwide is 53.4%, which is 89.6% of the normal level. Although recent rains have significantly relieved drought, some rain-fed paddies and island areas, as well as the central-western region which received only about 10 mm of rain, require water supply measures. To minimize drought damage, the government is urgently supporting local governments with 9.7 billion KRW from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs' drought countermeasure fund and 4.4 billion KRW from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's special disaster safety management grant, and is implementing water supply measures in water-scarce areas.

Domestic and industrial water supply is being maintained normally as major water sources, multipurpose dams and water supply dams, are managed at 101.0% and 73.3% of normal levels, respectively. Multipurpose and water supply dams are proactively adjusting water supply amounts according to drought crisis management stages (interest-caution-alert-serious) to prevent supply disruptions even if rainfall shortages continue.

Boryeong Dam in Chungnam is operating water channels and reducing river maintenance water supply, U-mun Dam in Gyeongbuk is adjusting the water supply system to provide alternative supply and reducing river maintenance and agricultural water surplus supply, and Hoengseong Dam in Gangwon is responding by reducing river maintenance water supply. Additionally, some island and mountainous areas are conducting emergency water supply such as supply restrictions and water transport due to regional characteristics.

Kim Seong-jung, Disaster Response Policy Officer, said, "Although the rain in early June somewhat helped alleviate the drought, some areas such as rain-fed paddies still require water supply measures for the time being. We will encourage and thoroughly inspect the prompt execution of drought countermeasure funds, including the development of alternative water sources, until the drought is resolved."

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