[Anchor]
Not only South Gyeongsang Province, but the Honam region is also drying up due to a severe drought. Reservoirs that supply water are hitting rock bottom, and fields have dried up completely.
Morning Zoom-In with reporter Hong Seung-yeon.
[Reporter]
The bottom of Lake Okjeong, which supplies water to the Honam Plain, is fully exposed.
The ground is severely cracked like a turtle's shell, with weeds growing thickly over it.
The waterways surrounding Bungeo Island, named for its fish-like shape, have completely dried up.
A suspension bridge is currently placed right above my head.
Normally submerged in water, this area has dried up from the drought to the point where people can now walk across it.
Out of the 470 million tons of water the lake can hold, only 84 million tons remain, which is just about the 18% level.
[Kim Young-mok / Operations Manager, Seomjin River Dam Branch, K-water: Based on today, the normal level is 43%. In terms of water level, it is about 10 meters lower than in an average year.]
[Lee Dae-geun & Kim Mi-sun / Gunsan, North Jeolla Province: (Have you ever seen it this dry?) No, it has been a while since we last came, but I don't think I've ever seen it this dry.]
With a "severe" drought alert issued for the Seomjin River Dam, securing agricultural water has hit an emergency.
Nearby fields, where crops are entering their growing season, have dried up completely.
[Choi Young-gu / Farmer: We probably have to look at it as ruining this year's farming. Right now is especially the flowering period for soybeans and the heading stage for rice. A lot of water is desperately needed right now...]
The Korea Rural Community Corporation has broken out water pumps for the first time in 13 years.
As it has become difficult to supply water from the dam, they are pumping back previously used water to reuse it for agricultural purposes.
[Lee Young-kwon / Water Resources Management Department Manager, Dongjin Branch, Korea Rural Community Corporation: We have installed water pumps to reuse it and are pumping it up because only about 70% of the required supply is coming down...]
The situation is no different in South Jeolla Province and Gwangju.
The average storage rate of Lake Jangseong is around 60%, but it currently lingers in the 26% range.
Crop damage is a major concern, but without rain, there are no viable measures available.
Looking at their crops, the hearts of farmers are burning black day by day.
(Reported by Kim Nam-seong | Video edited by Chae Chul-ho)
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