Senior presidential secretary for social affairs Kim Su-hyun gives a briefing at Cheong Wa Dae on May 22 about President Moon Jae-in’s order giving the Ministry of Environment final managerial say over the nation`s water quality and supplies.

By Sohn JiAe

Photos = Jeon Han 

President Moon Jae-in has ordered that the Ministry of Environment be the sole government body in charge of managing water quality and supplies across the whole country. 

The environment ministry has previously only focused on water quality, while the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport had been managing the national water supply, until now. 

“The president ordered that the environment ministry be the sole body to carry out water management, make decisions concerning the nation`s water quality and supply, as well as focus on disaster prevention, in a consistent and balanced system,” said senior presidential secretary for social affairs Kim Su-hyun in a briefing at Cheong Wa Dae on May 22. 

“Under the current system, the environment minister was supposed to manage the water quality and the transport ministry to deal with the water supply. However, as seen with the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project (4대강 사업), we’ve noticed that putting the water supply first has led to a deterioration in the quality of our nation`s waters, and the system of checks and balances hasn’t worked properly,” the secretary said. 

“President Moon has expressed his deep concern over this, and he ordered that the environment ministry assume full charge of all aspects of water management, and that this should be included in a government reorganization,” Kim said. 

The secretary continued to say that, “The president also ordered that an integrated water management watch team be set up immediately in order to minimize any inconveniences that may be caused in the process of moving responsibilities from the transport ministry to the environment ministry.” 

Senior presidential secretary for social affairs Kim Su-hyun announces that, ‘President Moon Jae-in ordered that the Ministry of Environment be the sole government office tasked with water management, so that any decision-making process involving the national water supply or quality, or the prevention of water-related disasters, can be handled in a systematic and balanced manner,’ in a briefing at the Chunchugwan press center at Cheong Wa Dae on May 22.

President Moon also ordered an immediate release of six dammed pools, out of a total of 16, for the sake of managing the water quality in four rivers that are part of the restoration project: the Hangang, Nakdonggang, Geumgang, and Yeongsangang rivers. The six pools, said to be playing a part in the frequent spread of green tide environmental damage, and, also, assumed to have a smaller impact on the national water supply when released, will be opened starting in June. 

“Alongside the release of the six pools, the president ordered the launch of a research and evaluation team that will investigate any changes in the ecosystem, as well as our national water quality and supply, in the pools for one year. The government then will decide the fate of the others, depending on their impact on the ecosystem, based on the one-year investigation,” said the secretary. 

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