[Opinion] Preparing for Safe Farming Amid Ongoing Climate Change

Kim Taeheon, Head of Haenam-Wando Branch, Korea Rural Community Corporation

The year 2023 can be described as a comprehensive case of abnormal climate. From February to May, an extreme drought persisted, threatening not only agricultural water but also domestic water supply. Starting in June, extreme weather anomalies alternated between drought and floods, with concentrated heavy rains exceeding 100mm per hour, causing inconveniences in daily life and unfortunate disasters. Along with shortages in agricultural irrigation water, farmland and hydraulic facilities were also flooded, making it a challenging year.

The El Ni?o phenomenon is expected to continue through 2024, and meteorologists predict that it will be "the hottest year in history." Consequently, extreme climate events such as floods, droughts, and heatwaves are expected to surge. In particular, the sea surface temperature of the eastern Pacific Ocean has remained more than 2℃ above average, and with the anticipated occurrence of a super El Ni?o, strong typhoons and heavy rainfall are predicted, necessitating thorough disaster preparedness measures.

South Korea is also experiencing accelerated rapid climate change. Over the recent 30 years (1994?2023), the average annual temperature has risen by 1.6℃ compared to the previous 30 years (1914?1943). Precipitation increased by 135.4mm, while the number of rainy days decreased by 21.2 days. In other words, although the number of rainy days has decreased, the frequency of heavy rainfall events when it does rain has increased.

As a result, not only flood damage caused by concentrated heavy rains but also localized droughts due to insufficient precipitation have become more frequent recently. Notably, in Gunsan, Jeonbuk, 429.4mm of rain fell in a single day on July 14 last year, and approximately 660mm fell over five days from July 13 to 17 in Cheongyang, Chungnam. Due to extreme rainfall over about a month, more than 50 casualties occurred nationwide, and massive property damage was incurred.

Korea Rural Community Corporation has accumulated know-how on droughts and floods over its 115-year history.

For 133 reservoirs where agricultural water shortages are a concern, water from nearby rivers was pumped and stored to secure water supply. To prevent flood damage, water levels are managed below 80% capacity by pre-releasing water through sluice gates at 3,428 reservoirs nationwide. Pre-inspections of drainage facilities such as pumps and sediment traps were conducted, and aquatic plants and sediments were removed from drainage channels to secure flood discharge capacity.

In particular, the Haenam and Wando offices invested approximately 3.1 billion KRW last year in drought countermeasure projects, installing eight simple pumping stations. As a result of concentrated efforts to supply water to the far ends of farmlands where water supply was difficult, safe farming outcomes comparable to average years were achieved. Additionally, dredging was conducted at two reservoirs to secure storage capacity. This year, dredging projects will be carried out at 11 reservoirs to remove accumulated sediment, securing a volume of 340,000 tons to prepare for ongoing droughts and heavy rains, with completion planned before the rainy season.

Furthermore, the upcoming North Il District system reorganization project (48.5 billion KRW) is expected to greatly help alleviate drought in the Haenam-gun North Il and Bukpyeong-myeon areas, which have been habitual drought zones.

For safe farming this year, the Haenam and Wando offices proactively conducted comprehensive maintenance of 17 drainage stations under their management and are preparing to maintain major drainage channels and remove aquatic plants in flood-prone areas. During the flood season, reservoirs are managed to keep water levels below 80% using pre-release facilities and siphons, and five embankments including Haenamho are actively managed by pre-releasing water from freshwater lakes to minimize flood damage.

Korea Rural Community Corporation will do its utmost to protect the precious lives and property of the people by reorganizing agricultural infrastructure and establishing a systematic emergency response system in preparation for climate change and recurring natural disasters such as droughts, floods, and typhoons.

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