Another on-going story from the up-coming book (which is being shipped to warehouses and retail outlets now!): An internal state audit of the 4 Rivers project (reported on January 19, 2013, at Donga.com), by the Board of Audit and Inspection, found that "16 dams
that were the key parts of the restoration project had problems in
durability and safety. The report also claimed that 'unreasonable
management' caused fears over deterioration of water quality. Due to
large-scale dredging work, the maintenance costs for the rivers are
expected to reach 288 billion won (272.5 million dollars) a year,
according to the audit. The findings suggest that the government rushed
to complete the project before President Lee left office, causing
breaches in quality control and exposing sign of shoddy construction." The government disputed the findings, but scheduled its own audit.
We wrote about this topic on July 1, 2010, but took down that post because it seemed controversial as we prepared to next travel to China. It became a key chapter in our book. Here is the original blog:
Seoul is a city of 10 million people now, but hundreds of years ago,
it was a newly founded village along the banks of a pretty creek
called Chonggyecheon. As the city grew, the creek became a sewer and
finally was covered over by concrete and a freeway. Until recently,
that is, because Mayor Lee Myung-bak brought the creek back to the
daylight and pushed construction of a semi-natural running water
experience for the urban dwellers in Seoul. We were impressed with
the creek walk as an urban park, though water from the Han River is
pumped at considerable energy costs to enhance the flow.
Now
Lee is the nation's president and he seems determined to re-design
the nation's four
largest
rivers, an objective that seems much less wise. The Han is one of
South Korea's four major rivers, along with the Nakdong, Geum, and
Yeongsan . From a watershed that gathers runoff from mountains to the
east, the great Han River passes through the capital city of Seoul
(37°35'N), then turns northwest to enter the ocean at the northern
boundary of the country at the Demilitarized Zone (37°46'N). Late
last year, excavators began carving away riverside bluffs to
as
much as double the width of the channel, while also digging out miles
of riverbed to deepen it by 12 to18 feet. On the two days we explored
a 6-mile stretch along the south fork of the Han River near Yeoju,
construction crews were at work on 3 dams (weirs) while trucks were
constantly being loaded with riverbed sand and gravel to be added to
mountains of material already piled nearby. We had never seen so many
gigantic excavators at work at once.
Yet this is just one part of
a much grander $20 billion project. A total of 16 new dams are
planned on the main channels of the four rivers, plus 5 more on their
tributaries, while enlarging 87 existing small dams and armoring over
200 miles of riverbanks. The big dams under construction were close
enough together so that the series of excavated “water basins”
and gates could conceivably become a continuous canal. Opponents of
the project think that is exactly the point, as a navigable canal
connecting the nation's rivers was a key objective for President Lee
when he took office, until national opposition stopped that grandiose
plan. The current effort is part of Lee's “Green New Deal,” with
stated objectives to store water against the prospects of drought,
prevent flooding, improve water quality, restore river ecosystems,
promote river-related recreation, and stimulate the economy (
read
more about the government program here)
The
goals sound commendable, but a closer look raises questions. Clearly,
lots of money is moving toward jobs and construction company profits.
But, as we learned from the environmental group KFEM (Korean
Federation for Environmental Movement)
(KFEM
blog here) at their headquarters in Seoul, and
then with others from the KFEM Yeoju office, who took us along the
Namhan--the south fork of the Han River--the listed benefits seem
exaggerated. This nation, though densely populated, has a good water
supply; episodes of flooding occur primarily on upper tributaries,
rather than the main channels where the work is focused; and the
engineering approach seems likely to degrade water quality, because
slowing the flow will increase accumulation of algae and pollutants.
Most blatantly, the removal of natural wetlands and streamside
vegetation is not “river restoration,” but rather destruction of
habitat and natural processes.
The United States went through
a river damming and channel straightening/concrete armoring stage in
the last century. In California we lost 90% of our wetlands and
riparian woodlands and our extensive list of endangered species is
closely tied to that lost habitat. We, along with many other nations,
learned that a more effective way to manage watershed systems is to
protect and restore wetlands and allow floodplains to absorb high
water episodes, regulating those flows while reabsorption and
riverbank vegetation filters impurities.
So it was sad to
watch the living river-bed being pulled out and lush riverside
plateaus being excavated, to know that endangered plants and animals
were being pushed even closer to extinction, and that small family
farmers near the river were also being displaced. Though the
construction destruction continues every day now, opponents of the
project are determined that it must stop. On a poster in the Yeoju
KFEM office, an excavator is being restrained by an aster plant, one
of the endangered species being threatened by the project. Mr. Ma
told us the words say, "Be Persistent, It is Your River."
So we looked up the Johnsons, who traveled in the 1920s and '30s, wrote
about, and filmed their adventures. Osa's book "I Married Adventure"
is still available at online book stores. 
So we looked up the Johnsons, who traveled in the 1920s and '30s, wrote
about, and filmed their adventures. Osa's book "I Married Adventure"
is still available at online book stores. 
largest
rivers, an objective that seems much less wise. The Han is one of
South Korea's four major rivers, along with the Nakdong, Geum, and
Yeongsan . From a watershed that gathers runoff from mountains to the
east, the great Han River passes through the capital city of Seoul
(37°35'N), then turns northwest to enter the ocean at the northern
boundary of the country at the Demilitarized Zone (37°46'N). Late
last year, excavators began carving away riverside bluffs to 
as
much as double the width of the channel, while also digging out miles
of riverbed to deepen it by 12 to18 feet. On the two days we explored
a 6-mile stretch along the south fork of the Han River near Yeoju,
construction crews were at work on 3 dams (weirs) while trucks were
constantly being loaded with riverbed sand and gravel to be added to
mountains of material already piled nearby. We had never seen so many
gigantic excavators at work at once. 