K-water President Park Jae-hyun makes an inspection tour to brace for possible flooding, caused by downpours. (Photos: K-water)

President Park Jae-hyun of Korea Water Resources Corp. (K-water) presided over a companywide emergency meeting in response to a streak of major downpours at the disaster safety situation room of K-water headquarters in Daedeok-gu, Daejeon City, on Aug. 5.

He looked at dams, piers and related facilities across the nation to brace for disasters.

During the meeting, K-water scrutinized the management of facilities to prevent accidents, with a focus on Han River and Geum River basins in the Central Region, where heavy rain fell, as well as the current status of the operation of the emergency countermeasures headquarters.

Participants also looked at the current damage status caused by the downpours across the nation and discussed ways of providing support for restoration work.

K-water elevated its own alert level from “crisis” to a “serious level” in accordance with the issuance of the Emergency III Stage by the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters on Aug. 2.

An emergency task force consisting 200 officials from about 100 K-water departments is in operation around the clock.

In particular, prior to the meeting, K-water President Park toured Chungju Dam on Aug. 4 to look into the countermeasures taken against possible floods of Han River water systems. He told related officials to insure thorough anti-disaster readiness and management of facilities.

Chungju Dam recorded an inflow of 8,800 tons of water per second on Aug. 1 as cumulative downpours soared to 260 mm. It is one of the multi-purpose dams along the Han River water systems.

Given the situation, downstream areas were issued flood warnings, and K-water is readjusting the operation of floodgates of Chungju Dam to control the water levels of downstream areas.

Major bridges in downstream areas, including Hongcheon Grand Bridge, Wonbu Bridge, and Mokdo Bridge, were issued a flood alert or a flood warning between Aug. 2 and Aug. 3.

K-water executives and staff members, members of the volunteer group “Water Sharing Team,” give a helping hand to victims of a farming area in Geumsan, Chungcheongnam-do, damaged by recent downpours.

Soyang River Dam, a multi-purpose dam along another Han River water system, saw its water level surpassing a flood threshold of 190.3 meters due to continued downpours and it began to open its floodgates to release 1,000 tons of water per second ( a maximum of 3,000 tons per second). K-water, readjusting the opening of floodgates to control water levels, plans to increase effluent volumes on a gradual basis.

Soyang River Dam has been contributing to the preventing of flooding at lower Han River water system areas by storing water inflows volumes, which had surged due to downpours, which hit the upper steam area starting July 31.

In the same way, K-water has been operating the multi-purpose dams along Han River water systems with a focus on the prevention of floods caused by downpours.

They have contributed to preventing floods in the Han River basin area by containing most of inflows or about 700 million tons of water, equivalent to the water capacity of Hapcheon Dam in Gyeongsangnam-do: having an effect of lowering the water levels of Jamsu Bridge in Seoul by about 1.5 meters.

Downpours hit inter-Korean border and North Korean areas, but flood control through Gunnam Dam in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi-do, and Hantan River Dam in Pocheon, Gyeonggi-do had lowered water levels of Biryong Grand Bridge, contributing to minimizing flooding in mid- and lower areas of Imjin River such as Paju and Munsan.

K-water President Park said, “Torrential rainfall is forecast with a focus on the central region in the days to come, we at K-water will devote ourselves to not only ensuring the safety of facilities, but also protecting people’s lives and properties by optimizing flood control through multi-purpose dams.”