Four-rivers project a terrible boondoggle

Well, I'm leaving the country soon and one place I regret not visiting is Taebaek in Gangwondo, the start of two of South Korea's four major rivers.  While in Gangwondo and somewhat afterward, I was a keen observer of the Four Rivers project started by past president Lee Myungbak.  Now the project is mostly finished and considered a mess.  I still want to visit Taebaek, but perhaps the sights will not be as wondrous and natural as they could have.

People became suspicious of the project immediately, not due to evidence of poor planning but due to the connection to a previous proposal.  The first plan was to build a series of locks on the Han and Nakdong Rivers so that goods could travel by ship from Seoul to Busan via Daegu on an inland route.  When there was too much opposition, he proposed similar work for a different purpose.

From the Donga Ilbo, November, 2009:

In his 2007 presidential campaign, President Lee had pledged to build a cross-country canal in Korea, but strong resistance from the opposition and a faction in the ruling Grand National Party prompted him to give up the project to prevent dividing public opinion. He then suggested the restoration of the country’s four major rivers.

To me, this was definitely suspicious, but being ignorant of the details I had to accept that there could be some truth or idealism to President Lee's plan.  This statement of his contains both a reasonable rationale and remarkable naivete:

Some civic groups say that the four-rivers projects will hurt water quality, but it makes little sense to leave already polluted rivers alone without even trying to improve them. As the president remarked, would a head of state carry out a project to deliberately pollute the environment?

And so, at the start of the project, I was suspicious but unable to form a conclusion.  I used the 'foreigner card': "I can't vote here and can't read the relevant technical information; it is not really my country, I guess I'll wait."

One other possible defense of the project was flood control, including maliciously released water from North Korea.  It is not really on point, but here is a link to a post on the subject from 2009.

Before I get to the bad news about the four rivers project, let's look at what Arirang TV had to say.  Follow the link to the video.  Here is the 'About' info:

Published on Apr 29, 2012We take a look at Korea's multi-purpose green growth project, the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project, along with a group of special guests.

Well, Arirang is the national cheerleader station and nothing in the video is wrong.  I'm sure there are beautiful parts of the river and had personally enjoyed the riverside biking trails.  I guess I just feel they left a lot out.

Okay, enough suspense.  What are people saying now that a new report has been released.  Briefly, "Effed-up", "a train wreck" and a "Scathing study".

"Due to faulty designs, 11 out of 16 dams lack sturdiness, water quality is feared to deteriorate... and excessive maintenance costs will be required," the report said.
Silting would require another round of dredging at an estimated cost of 289 billion won, it said.
Driven by tight timetables, work was pushed through without proper inspection and the river bed protection of 15 dams has partially subsided or been washed away.

A common though minor complaint about the work was the algae outbreaks seen after construction.

Global voices reports:

However, mass algae-outbreaks have been reported in several rivers in 2012, which many believe somehow correlate to the construction.

Note the cautious language used.  The best phrase in this regard is "many believe somehow".

The Minister of the Environment rebutted the claim:

The Ministry of Land and Maritime Affairs and the Ministry of Environment convened a joint press conference yesterday. 
They said the reservoirs are strong enough to bear an influx of waters and the algae was not related to the project. 
“The appearance of algae occurred before the construction,” Yoo Young-sook, Minister of Environment, said. “We need to take a long-term perspective in evaluating water because it’s been only a year since the construction was completed. Water quality can be affected by many factors, such as weather conditions.”

While I don't know what the cause of the algal blooms is, they are reported world wide these days so I am willing to accept the minister's defense, for now.

At this point, January 22, it seems President-elect Park Geun-hye is taking a wait-and-see approach. it is probably wiser than leaping in.

As my in-laws farm on a floodplain, I hope the expectations of increased flooding prove exaggerated.

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Background at Gangwon Notes.

Seaways, Canadian and Korean

Time to learn about the four rivers project

How could government...

"But how could the government possibly conduct a project that hurts water quality?"

Lee Myung Bak made a good point in defending his 4-rivers project.  The quote I am using as a title, though, sounds improbably naive or poorly translated.

From the Chosun Ilbo (I have italicized the 'good point'):

...He pledged to stop answering questions on the issue and "proceed with the projects without listening to further criticism." 

At the ground-breaking ceremony, he declared that no future can be opened with "old ways of thinking" and parties' regional interests, and that the projects will be conducted in a "future-oriented" manner with best efficiency, environment-friendly and state-of-the-art technology combined. "Some people allege that water quality will deteriorate in the course of the projects," he said. "But how could the government possibly conduct a project that hurts water quality?" 

Some civic groups say that the four-rivers projects will hurt water quality, but it makes little sense to leave already polluted rivers alone without even trying to improve them. As the president remarked, would a head of state carry out a project to deliberately pollute the environment? 

I do think there is some merit in the first sentence I quoted.  I would have approved of the late Roh Mu-hyun more if he had been firmer in his decisions, even if I didn't care for those decisions themselves.  Still, some merit is a long way from something I would accept.  I feel this way chiefly because I am not sure when he ever answered questions on the subject.

Still, I do agree that the rivers are already polluted to some degree.  GI Korea has frequently pointed out that Koreans pollute their own rivers, it is only when Americans do it, that it becomes news.

The GI linked to this Korea Times article:

It is shocking news that 29 timber companies were found to have released 271 tons of formalin over the past three years into streams feeding the Han River, the main source of drinking water for Seoul and Kyonggi Province.

Okay, the rivers are polluted.  I can't say whether President Lee's project will help or not, but we clearly aren't dealing with pristine rivers here.

And the rivers aren't surrounded exclusively by forest, pristine or not.  I have written before, describing floods, nearly yearly and the need for some flood control.  This is the one reason I am ambivalent about the project.

Again, we crash into the quote I used as my title.  This might (maybe) be reasonable for a president with no historic ties to heavy industry or who had not recently been thwarted in another river project that could be seen only as a big-money project for heavy industry with no conceivable benefits.  President Lee, once leader of a Hyundae construction group and architect of the Trans Korea canal project, does not get the benefit of the doubt.

I guess China won't absorb North Korea if the government falls

There has long been concern that, should the North Korean government collapse, China would move in on a 'peacekeeping' mission and somehow end up in full control.  I have seen many articles and posts on the subject, but only found this one while preparing this post.

To many Koreans, judging from past actions, this fear is reasonable.  Look at koguryo. And Gangdo.  All, right, just go to this search I made at the Marmot's hole.

And why not?  Norht Korea is said to have great natural resources that the locals were unable to recover and exploit.  Plus, the population is less well-off than China's so any assistance would go a long way.

Here is why not.  From the Dong-a:

North Korean organizations in charge of raising foreign currency are bringing in and burying industrial waste from China for money, a report released yesterday said.
...
One North Korean scientist said, “Our country in effect is turning into China’s industrial waste site,” adding, “Even tap water in Pyongyang has become so polluted that it is no longer potable.”
...
North Korea is reportedly taking in foreign industrial waste in secret in the form of its border trade with China.

Dong Yong-seung, head of the economics and security team at Samsung Economic Research Institute in Seoul, said, “Though no data is available that can tell us the exact situation, Chinese companies might believe that sending industrial waste to North Korea for burial is cheaper than disposing of it in China in compliance with Chinese environmental regulations.

North Korea is also not just bringing in waste just from China. Former North Korean defector Kim Heung-kwang, now head of a coalition of former North Korean intelligentsia in South Korea, said, “Companies that earn foreign currencies brought in waste vinyl from Germany and France for 300 U.S. dollars per ton in early 2000 and buried it in soil.”

I suspect that if China is sending toxic waste to North Korea, the Norks aren't carting it across the entire country, yet perhaps we need to even more closely monitor the water that crosses the DMZ.

Levy and gate in Gangneung

I wrote earlier about the four rivers project and how I wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not.  I remain suspicious but look at this wall and flood gate in Gangneung

It has been raining for the past few days but the water is well below the level of this parking lot.  In the past, however, it has reached this high and the wall (is it a levy?  I think so.) and gate have been needed. Evening the flow of rivers might well be good for everyone, including the fish.

Guess its time to learn what the four river project actually is.

This seems like a difficult project for a westerner, particularly a Canadian, to accurately judge the value of. My country is thinly populated and we have a surplus of water. Korea, on the other hand, is densely populated and inland Gangwondo has suffered severe water shortages in recent times. I do want to protect ecosystems, but people are part of the ecosystem and we naturally have to count ourselves as at least as important as the other parts. Further, Korean rivers don't run steadily through the year. When water flows increase, they can increase dramatically and cause flood damage.

From the Times:

Korea's 22 trillion-won civil engineering project, aimed at restoring the basin areas of four major rivers, has passed an environmental impact assessment test, giving momentum to a project critics argue will devastate the country's ecosystem.

From the Joongang:

The controversial four-river restoration project will begin tomorrow following an announcement that the government-led evaluation of the environmental impact of the project was completed last Friday, according to the Land Ministry yesterday.

The report concludes that the quality of the water in the rivers will have improved on [I think they mean 'improved to 2006"] 2006 levels after the project has been completed in 2011, the ministry said.

From the Donga:

President Lee Myung-bak’s project to restore the country’s four major rivers will finally begin this week with the construction of 15 dams to start Tuesday.

The venture has long faced resistance from opposition parties but is set to proceed this week. With the completion of the government assessment of the project, operations are expected to be accelerated.

In his 2007 presidential campaign, President Lee had pledged to build a cross-country canal in Korea, but strong resistance from the opposition and a faction in the ruling Grand National Party prompted him to give up the project to prevent dividing public opinion. He then suggested the restoration of the country’s four major rivers.

The Donga article seems to best summarize why the project is controversial. Building fifteen dams seems a strange way to help river ecosystems recover, and the apparent connection in the final quoted paragraph is what seems most ominous. No canal? Okay, let's call it river restoration.

Transboundary flood control talks

About a month ago, dams in North Korea released a flood of water into South Korea which killed six people. (Self-promotion links, but which also hold links to other bloggers and newspapers: here and here. Oh, and here, where I presciently discussed the threat for Water Blogging Day).

This week, talks are beginning regarding the flood and how to prevent new surprise floods. Again showing their bizarre negotiation tactics, the North have tested missiles recently as well. They seem to also be linking the flood control talks with talks about reunions.

From the Times:

North Korea has accepted South Korea's proposals to hold inter-Korean talks this week over flood prevention and humanitarian issues, the Ministry of Unification said Tuesday.

The North's latest conciliatory gesture comes one day after it test-fired five short-range missiles off its east coast.

Pyongyang is showing signs of preparing another missile test off the west coast as it warned ships not to sail through waters off South Pyeongan Province, government sources said, adding that it could be part of a routine military exercise aimed at improving capability.

And the Joongang:

North Korea yesterday agreed to the South’s proposals from Monday for the talks. Today in Kaesong, representatives from the two Koreas will sit down to discuss ways to prevent further floods at the Imjin River. Six South Koreans were killed in a September flash flood along the Imjin River caused by the North’s unannounced discharge of dam water.

The river originates north of the border and runs into the Han River in the South. Floods at the Imjin have previously caused damage to fishing farms south of the border.

North Korea has yet to apologize for the September incident. It has only said it would provide prior warnings in the future if it is forced to release water from one of its dams. The South Korean delegation is expected to further press for the apology today.

Yes, that'll be an expensive apology to get.

UPDATED ALMOST IMMEDIATELY: Yonhap announces that North Korea officially 'regrets' the deaths of six South Koreans. Again, I suspect goods changed hands to receive those 'regrets' but you take what you can get.

In the US, windfarms might be replacing dams

I've written about windfarms and about the 4 rivers project (written that way, it has an ominous 3 gorges project sound to it) and I've just found a sort of connection between them.

Part of the Big Rivers project is the construction of dams. The dams should assist in controlling flooding and allow irrigation. I am not sure if they are also designed for power generation.

Perhaps they shouldn't be. In the western US, windfarms are becoming more popular and dams less so.

I'm torn on the issue. Certainly in the past, hydro-electric dams were the cleanest possible method of electrical generation. Nowadays, as they are perhaps less necessary, the problems, known, but minor compared to the other options, are becoming more onerous.

In the article linked above, dams interfere with salmon runs. That isn't such an issue here as, in Yangyang at least, salmon are collected as they enter the river and spawn in tanks at the hatchery.

Still, I am cautious about accepting President Bak's assurances regarding plans for the rivers after his trans-Korea canal scheme that was stopped.

There's gold on Jo Island

Conditions looked right for a rainbow but I was in a canyon of apartment buildings, so I picked a random one, rode the elevator to the highest floor and walked the stairs to the roof to take these photos.

By chance, this apartment had a great view of Cheungcho Lake.  In the foreground  of the picture below are several rows of pipes.  They will be towed north at some point to a deep water plant that, I guess, draws the water from over a thousand meters down to the surface and desalinates it.  I don't know how distilling water (or whatever other method they use to desalinate it) from a pure source differs from using a contaminated source - removing the salt requires enough work that most every other contaminant will be removed as well.

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I posted these pics in fairly large format, but they won't expand for me.  I hope they do for you.