"Even Perilla Seedlings Have Dried Up and Died"... Changnyeong Reservoir Bottom Exposed

"With no moisture, the persimmons have become shriveled and wrinkled, and even the trees have dried up and died, so we have to consider this year's farming finished," sighed a 60-something farmer surnamed Nam, whom we met at a sweet persimmon farm in Changnyeong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do, where a severe drought continues despite the record-breaking heat waves subsiding.

Although it is the prime season for fruits to expand, ripen, and grow larger, abnormal climate conditions such as heat waves and drought have begun to inflict damage on sweet persimmons.

Nam lamented, "Sunscald damage occurred during the heat wave, and now the drought has drained all the moisture from the persimmons, making it hard to find any with commercial value. Because we are told that rotten persimmons must remain hanging on the trees to even qualify for crop disaster insurance, we cannot pull them off, creating a vicious cycle where the persimmon trees themselves dry up and die."

True to Nam's words, the drought in the Changnyeong area has recently been severe.

According to the Agricultural Drought Management System (ADMS), the agricultural water reservoir storage rate in the Changnyeong area stood at 28.8% as of the 11th, recording the lowest figure so far this year.

This is merely 40.2% compared to the average normal reservoir storage rate of 71.7%.

In particular, the storage rate of Okcheon Reservoir is at 1.9%, lingering at a mere 2.4% level compared to the normal average (80.2%).

Currently, the bottom of the reservoir is mostly exposed and cracked like a turtle's back, presenting a situation so severe that it is hard to recognize it as a reservoir.

Okcheon Reservoir has an area of about 140 hectares and is a core facility supplying agricultural water centered around the Geseong-myeon area.

A person in their 40s surnamed A, who farms upland fields in Bugok-myeon, said, "I planted perilla seedlings twice last month, but they all dried up and died. Since they are bound to die anyway even if planted, I bought new seedlings but cannot plant them, leaving us just praying for rain."

Changnyeong-gun is operating pumping stations and tube wells to the maximum and actively securing available water sources such as reservoirs and rivers.

In particular, 35 makeshift pumping facilities have been installed by drilling into riverbeds in various water-deficient areas to supply agricultural water.

Okcheon Reservoir, which has mostly dried up, is barely being supplied with water by pumping it backward from a local river about 2.5 kilometers away and dropping it onto the upper section of the reservoir.

The county is also mobilizing all available methods, such as capturing river water with water tank trucks and supplying it directly to irrigation canals.

However, even these efforts have clear limitations.

While a single water pump can lift 100 tons of water per hour, rivers are also drying up due to the persistent drought, and pumping cannot be performed until water accumulates in the pools.

Moreover, while reservoirs that can be filled by pumping water from pumping stations are in a somewhat better situation, reservoirs that can only utilize natural inflow have no special solutions.

Such reservoirs that rely purely on rainwater to fill up reach 1,768 hectares in the region.

Using water tank trucks can also only fill water in an extremely small area of farmland even when operated all day.

The county forecasts that if rain continues not to fall, the drought disaster will become even more severe this month, causing damage to multiply.

A county official stated, "The water in nearby rivers is also gradually drying up, so we view this month as the absolute limit we can endure. With a forecast for a small amount of rain during the week, we will have to monitor the situation while providing emergency water supplies tailored to regional conditions."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.