Gyeonggi Province Launches Harmful Aquatic Plant Removal at Paldang Lake... Deploys Five Vessels Including Removal Boats

Gyeonggi Province is launching a campaign to remove harmful aquatic plants from Paldang Lake as summer approaches?a season when the risk of algal blooms is particularly high.

Paldang Lake has a high concentration of aquatic plants such as water chestnuts and lotuses, which cover the water surface. The stems and fibrous roots of these plants contain large amounts of odor-causing substances and cyanobacteria cells. These plants block sunlight from entering the water, hindering underwater photosynthesis, which leads to a lack of dissolved oxygen and disrupts water flow. As a result, the diversity of aquatic life, including fish and aquatic insects, decreases.

According to the National Institute of Environmental Research, the habitat area of water chestnut colonies in Paldang Lake expanded from 1.37 square kilometers in 2006 to 3.29 square kilometers in 2018. The area of lotus habitats also increased from 0.37 square kilometers in 2018 to 1.04 square kilometers in 2024.

Gyeonggi Province is conducting harmful aquatic plant removal work at Paldang Lake. Photo by Gyeonggi Province

Accordingly, Gyeonggi Province will conduct large-scale removal of harmful aquatic plants from late May until July, before the rainy season begins, focusing on major colony areas in Sonaeseom, Guyeri, Bunwonri, and Samseongri in Namjong-myeon, Gwangju City.

For the removal operation, Gyeonggi Province will deploy a total of five vessels per day, including three aquatic plant removal boats and two cleaning boats, along with 11 crew members. The estimated removal area is 1.004 square kilometers, with an estimated removal volume of 85 tons.

Yoon Deokhee, head of the Gyeonggi Province Water Resources Headquarters, stated, "By removing harmful aquatic plants before the rainy season and managing sources of inflowing pollution, we will do our utmost to reduce the organic load in the lake and ensure the effective management of the Paldang Water Supply Source, which provides drinking water for the Seoul metropolitan area."

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