Hwaseong City Promotes Construction of 'Artificial Wetlands' to Improve Water Quality of Namyang Lake

Submission of National Treasury Subsidy Project Application in Gyeonggi-do

Hwaseong City in Gyeonggi Province announced on the 11th that it has submitted an application to Gyeonggi Province for the '2025 Namyangho Watershed Nonpoint Source Pollution Reduction National Subsidy Project' to improve the water quality of Namyangho.

This national subsidy application follows the 'Feasibility Study and Basic Plan Establishment for the Installation of Nonpoint Source Pollution Reduction Facilities in the Namyangho Watershed' conducted over eight months from July last year. The project aims to install artificial wetlands, a nonpoint source pollution reduction facility with a capacity of 20,000 tons, in the Namyangho watershed by 2027. The city plans to invest a total project cost of 9.5 billion KRW, with 50% from national funds, 15% from provincial funds, and 35% from city funds.

Namyangho is an artificial lake created in 1974 when the 2,064-meter-long Namyang Embankment was constructed in the Namyang Bay area between Ujeong-eup in Hwaseong City and Poseung-eup in Pyeongtaek City. The watershed area covers 163,400 hectares, and the storage capacity reaches 31.48 million cubic meters. 'Nonpoint source pollution' refers to pollution caused by diffuse sources that cannot be pinpointed to a specific discharge location. The main causes include fertilization and pesticide application on farmland and soil erosion.

Previously, the Ministry of Environment designated Namyangho as a 'Priority Management Reservoir' in December 2020, and in August 2022, approved the 'Namyangho Priority Management Reservoir Water Pollution Prevention and Water Quality Improvement Measures' established by Gyeonggi Province. Accordingly, the city, together with Pyeongtaek City and the Korea Rural Community Corporation, is implementing water quality improvement measures according to an annual plan to achieve water quality grade 4, the standard for agricultural water, by 2027.

The Ministry of Environment plans to decide on the selection of the national subsidy project around October after conducting on-site investigations of the project site by related organizations such as the Hangang River Basin Management Office and the National Institute of Environmental Research in April.

Lee Gang-seok, head of the Water Quality Management Division of Hwaseong City, said, "We will do our utmost to systematically implement measures to alleviate the city's financial burden and achieve the water quality goals for Namyangho."

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