"It Holds 470 Million Tons, But..." Reservoir Bottom Exposed

[Anchor]

The drought in the Honam region is just as severe. As reservoirs begin to dry up, farming households in the area are on high alert to secure agricultural water.

Reporter Hong Seung-yeon has the details.

[Reporter]

The bottom of Lake Okjeong, which supplies water to the Honam Plain, is completely exposed.

The ground has cracked like a turtle's shell, and weeds grow thickly over it.

The waterways surrounding Bungeo Island, named for its resemblance to a crucian carp, have all 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.

Of the 470 million tons of water the lake can hold, only 84 million tons remain, leaving the storage rate at just 18 percent.

[Kim Young-mok, Manager of Operations, Seomjin River Dam Office, K-water: As of today, 43 percent is normal. In terms of water level, it is about 10 meters lower than in an average year.]

[Lee Dae-geun & Kim Mi-seon, Gunsan, North Jeolla Province: (Have you ever seen it this dry?) No, it has been a while since we last visited, but I don't think I've ever seen it this dry.]

With a "severe" drought stage issued for the Seomjin River Dam, securing agricultural water has become an emergency.

Nearby fields, where crops are entering their growth stages, have completely dried up.

[Choi Young-gu, Farmer: We might as well say that farming is ruined this year. Especially right now, it is the flowering season for beans and the heading stage for rice. Water is desperately needed at this time...]

The Korea Rural Community Corporation has pulled out water pumps for the first time in 13 years.

As it has become difficult to receive water supplies from the dam, used water is being pumped back up to be recycled as agricultural water.

[Lee Young-kwon, Manager of Water Resources Management, Dongjin Branch, Korea Rural Community Corporation: We have installed water pumps to recycle the water and are pumping it because only about 70 percent of the required supply is coming down...]

The situation is no different in South Jeolla Province and Gwangju.

The average storage rate for Lake Jangseong is normally around 60 percent, but it currently lingers in the 26 percent range.

While crop damage is a major concern, there are no viable measures without rainfall.

Farmers' hearts are burning black day by day as they look at their crops.

(Video by Kim Nam-sung | Video Editing by Chae Chul-ho)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.