▲ Farmers Frustrated by Dried-Up Reservoir
"People in the village are fighting over water; it's like a war zone."
As reservoirs dry up across various parts of South Jeonnam and Gwangju due to over a month of scorching heat and a lack of rain, farmers' anxieties are mounting.
On the 12th, at Baksan Reservoir in Seokgok-myeon, Gokseong-gun, patches of dried, yellowish mud and aquatic plants were exposed where water should have been, with only a small puddle left at the edge hinting that it was a reservoir.
Unlike usual times when the reservoir would be bustling with activity to supply agricultural water to around 100 neighboring farming households, it looked desolate with its significantly lowered water level.
As the reservoir dried up, an emergency was declared for farmland in seven villages, including Dangji Village and Wolgye Village, which rely on water from this source for farming.
The paddy fields cracked open like turtle shells, with deep fissures forming in places wide enough for a finger to fit inside.
The rice plants, having finished rice planting last June, maintained their green color, but the soil beneath their roots was completely dried up.
Residents agreed that it was the first time in decades that Baksan Reservoir had its bottom exposed like this.
Oh, a 65-year-old head of Dangji Village, lamented, "Even after walking right to the middle of the paddy field, neither my shoes nor my pants had a single drop of moisture on them. At this rate, it's no different from a dry field rather than a rice paddy."
As rice ears begin to form, an adequate water supply is necessary to properly harvest rice around October, but with the sharp decline in water storage, even supplying water to the paddy fields has become difficult.
In fact, paddy fields at the tail end located about 4 kilometers away from the reservoir have already reached a point where receiving water is nearly impossible.
As water becomes scarce, the atmosphere among villagers relying on Baksan Reservoir's water has turned tense.
When a passing shower fell on the 5th, residents even bickered, insisting that water should be channeled to their own paddy fields first.
Lee, a 57-year-old resident in charge of managing the reservoir's water, said, "How can we save someone's paddy field while letting another's dry up? Because water has become so precious, even people who usually get along well are raising their voices and getting into arguments."
According to the Korea Rural Community Corporation, the total water storage capacity of Baksan Reservoir is 188,000 tons, but the remaining water on this day stood at a mere 13,800 tons, causing the storage rate to plummet to 7.7 percent.
Residents are mobilizing water pumps to draw water from nearby streams or trying to get by by conserving the remaining water, but they worry that if things continue this way, this year's rice farming could be ruined.
Oh said, "We cannot just sit back and do nothing when there is no water in the paddy fields, so I check the water channels several times a day. Seeing the rice plants we nurtured for months drying up right before our eyes breaks my heart."
The aftermath of the drought is spreading not only in Gokseong but also across various parts of South Jeonnam.
Starting from the 29th of last month, Gokseong, Gwangyang, Gurye, Yeonggwang, Jangseong, and Hwasun saw their reservoir storage rates enter the caution stage.
With South Jeonnam regional reservoirs lingering at only 68.2 percent of the water typically stored at this time of year, the average storage rate has also dropped to 44.1 percent.
Among the 1,050 reservoirs in the South Jeonnam region managed by the Korea Rural Community Corporation, 145 are currently at the drought warning or severe stage.
Damage to crops due to the heatwave and drought is also continuing.
The area of damage from the heatwave and drought reported to the South Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated City up to this day has reached 93.64 hectares, combining rice, soybeans, field crops, and fruit trees.
As the drought prolongs, the Korea Rural Community Corporation and the integrated city are operating drought response task forces and making desperate efforts to secure water supplies for the drying paddy fields.
In areas lacking water, temporary pumping stations connecting nearby streams and reservoirs are installed to supply up to 2,000 tons of water daily, while areas with relatively abundant water storage, such as Jangseong Lake and Damyang Lake, are repeatedly releasing and shutting off water to share the limited supply.
In places where even streams have hit rock bottom, methods of trapping water released from reservoirs behind weirs and then pumping it back up for agricultural use are also being deployed.
Emergency water supplies to secure even a single drop more are ongoing across 210 locations in 14 cities and counties, alongside deployment of water trucks and pumps, or excavation of riverbeds to secure water resources.
Even on the morning of this day, Buk-gu mobilized four water spray trucks to Samgakje, an agricultural reservoir within its jurisdiction, to provide an emergency supply of 64 tons of agricultural water.
The fallout from the drought extends beyond agricultural reservoirs to major water sources in the Gwangju area.
On this day, the water storage rate of Dongbok Dam, a water source for the Gwangju area, dropped to 49 percent, while Juam Dam fell to 38.9 percent.
The integrated city expects that water supply will remain possible until the end of September even without additional rainfall, but plans to prepare measures such as rationing water and securing alternative water intakes if the lack of rain continues.
An official from the Agricultural Policy Division of the integrated city said, "As sufficient rain has not fallen, securing agricultural water is becoming increasingly difficult. We will make maximum use of available equipment and water sources to supply agricultural water and respond to prevent the damage from spreading."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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