In 2022, Korea has seen significant progress from the water pollution scandal in the 90s. Over the past decades, Korea has been steadily improving the quality of its water services by integrating technology with its water supply and storage. The country has slowly developed innovative smart water methods that allow real-time assessments and updates on water status.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and its associate institutions assisted and guided Korea’s government with crucial governance and policy recommendations to habilitate water management. clearwater management korea predicts that soon Korea will create technologies that other countries will implement.
This article will discuss the current Korean water issues, objectives, and actions to prevent future difficulties in the coming years.
Water Problems and Issues
Even with the excellent water infrastructure and management developments in recent decades, Korea has encountered several water security threats in the past and coming years. Korea almost filled its current river basin water allocation, which could mean trouble with rising water demand and population in a few years. Urban stormwater and livestock run-off pollute and contaminate insufficient water resources.
Among the countries under OECD, Korea has one of the highest water scarcity, population density and vulnerability to flooding. In the last decade alone, floods have affected around 200 thousand people with damages up to $4.35 billion. Urbanization and climate change increased water-related risks.
Goals and Objectives
The increasing population and flood incidents could make water scarce in the coming years. There is insufficient public funding to respond to these calamities due to the recent slowdown of economic growth and the ageing population.
Given the problems mentioned previously, Clearwater Management Korea can summarize the goals of Korean water as the following:
- Finding new sources of water to supplement natural river basins.
- Cleaning and clearing polluted water sources to improve usability.
- Reduce harmful effects of flooding and climate change on water sources.
- Minimal water management and resource expenses.
Therefore, there is a limitation on governing and managing water resources for sustainable economic development and reducing future investment needs. Korea has to look for the most efficient and cost-effective way to meet its goals
Future Actions
The OECD helped Korean authorities facilitate and coordinate systemic and policy water management responses. They organized two successive water policy dialogues where partner institutions discussed good international practices and robust analytical work with the OECD.
The OECD recommended the following priorities for Korean water:
- Long-term solution and planning against calamities like flooding and drought.
- Incentives in promoting efficient water use and reduced pollution.
- Water regulation and greater environmental compliance enforcement.
- Water issues governance reforms.
The OECD recommendations will ensure that Korea’s solutions are technologically-based, sustainable and long-lasting.
Conclusion
Clearwater Management Korea believes that drinking water should be accessible to everyone. The company is determined to support Korea in its goal to improve water supplies, technologies and services. Currently, Korea has a water servicing rate of 99.1%; soon, it will increase to 100%, including remote rural areas.
