"I have lived in this neighborhood for 36 years, and I have never seen it this dry."

As a prolonged drought rapidly dries up dams, reservoirs, and valleys in the southern regions of Gyeongsangbuk-do, including Cheongdo and Gyeongju, difficulties in securing agricultural and daily water supplies are growing.

Farmers are losing sleep as they pump out the remaining water to supply their paddies and fields, and merchants in tourist areas are seeing their worries deepen as the footsteps of vacationers cut off.

Local governments are stepping up to respond by mobilizing water trucks and pumps and securing alternative water sources to supply the insufficient water.

In fact, the water surface line of the water-receding Unmun Dam in Cheongdo was clearly exposed, and farmers in nearby mountain valleys were busy running water pumps to draw water.

Around 11:00 AM on the 12th, near Unmun Dam in Cheongdo-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do.

Banners were posted in various parts of Cheongdo-gun stating that water usage must be cut by 20% due to a shortage of water sources to avoid a water outage.

The village near Unmun Dam, which would normally have been crowded with tourists, was quiet.

The Unmun Dam, visible on the road heading toward the village of Sinwon-ri, where the drought is severe, had its water surface line clearly exposed.

As of 11:00 AM on this day, the water level of Unmun Dam stood at 24.7%, making it the only area in the country under the "severe" drought stage.

The dense water surface lines, resembling the rings of an old tree, quickly turned into flat land overgrown with weeds.

The upper reaches of Unmun Dam, where the submerged village was exposed, made it difficult to find any traces of water due to the extreme drought.

Sinwon-ri, currently experiencing the most severe drought in Unmun-myeon, is a place visited by many tourists during the vacation season for its clear water and wide streams.

However, the streams of Sinwon-ri were dry, with parched stones exposed.

Vacationers were also hard to find.

Waterways had been cut between the dry streams to secure agricultural water, but even those appeared to be cut off in front of the irrigation canals.

A 58-year-old resident of Sinwon-ri, surnamed Lee, said, "There was practically no water, so we dug a waterway to water the field crops, but even that has been cut off," adding, "Farmers are losing sleep to pump what little water is left into their fields during the relatively cool nights."

He appealed, "Because it hasn't rained and the water in the valley has dried up, business owners are getting less than half the tourists compared to last year and are on the verge of starving."

Going further up the village to higher ground, the situation became even more serious.

It was difficult to find even traces of the valley water that used to pool at least a little.

Lee, a 57-year-old who grows field crops in Sinwon-ri, said, "Living in this neighborhood for 36 years, I've never seen it this dry, and there's no water so we can't even run the pumps," adding, "When there were droughts in the past, it would at least shower once in a while, but this time it's a big problem because it's not raining at all."

According to the Daegu Regional Meteorological Administration, 76.5 mm of rain fell in Cheongdo last month, and no precipitation has been recorded so far this month.

Farmers tried desperately to supply even a little water to their drying paddies.

Water pump hoses were laid out instead of water along the irrigation canals running alongside the rice paddies near Unmunsa Temple.

The water pumps connected to the hoses were installed in places where the dry valley ground had been dug up with heavy machinery.

Even then, the water pooled only at a shallow level, leaving the fields parched without water.

Yoon, a 62-year-old rice farmer in Sinwon-ri, installed a water pump in the water pooled in the valley.

Yoon trailed off, saying, "If I install a water pump in the water pooled here, it dries up in less than an hour," but started the pump anyway, adding, "Still, we can't just not give them water..."

While crops are the biggest problem, drinking water is also threatened.

Seo, a 63-year-old who runs a restaurant near Unmunsa Temple, said, "There is not much water to begin with in the raw water source we use," adding, "We've recently repaired the water pipes to draw what water we can, but with all the commercial stores using water on tenterhooks not knowing when it will run dry if it doesn't rain."

An official from Cheongdo-gun said, "Recognizing the severe drought situation, we are making efforts to alleviate the drought with water spray trucks," and added, "After temporarily asking the fire department for help, starting the previous day we sent an official letter to the fire authorities to request cooperation on water spraying, and we are accepting water spray applications from each village severely affected by the drought."

They also stated, "There are no major problems with daily water supplies at the moment, but given Cheongdo's characteristics where many tourists visit, water usage sometimes surges on weekends, so we are monitoring to ensure there are no disruptions in water supply."

Gyeongju was no different in groaning under the drought.

On this cloudy morning, Hagok Reservoir in Duryu-ri, Angang-eup, Gyeongju-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, was so dry that most of its bottom was visible.

With cloudy weather continuing after 18.8 mm of rain fell in the Gyeongju area on the 9th, the water storage level decreased a little less.

According to the Korea Rural Community Corporation, the water storage rate of Hagok Reservoir on this day stood at 8.4%, which was significantly lower compared to 69.0% during the same period last year or the average of 63.5%.

Reflecting this low water storage rate, the rice paddies in Duryu-ri below the reservoir clearly showed the lack of water.

Thanks to the recent rain and low sunlight, completely withered paddies were not seen.

However, many paddies only retained moisture without being filled with water, which seemed to hinder rice growth.

Gukdang-ri and Wangsin-ri in Gangdong-myeon, Gyeongju-si nearby, also had many rice paddies placed in a similar situation.

The rice paddies and fields in this area have used water flowing down from Wangsin Reservoir.

However, Wangsin Reservoir has not been able to store any water at all as restoration work has been underway since its embankment collapsed due to Typhoon Hinnamnor in 2022.

Accordingly, Gyeongju City and the Gyeongju branch of the Korea Rural Community Corporation are supplying water by installing water pumps in the Wangsin Stream or Hyeongsan River.

As a result of touring the area, there were paddies filled with water, but many paddies were also seen with only moisture remaining or dry without even moisture.

A chives farmer explained, "The rain that fell a few days ago helped a little to relieve the parched fields," but added, "Instead of pouring down like a shower, rain needs to fall steadily over a considerable period to go deep into the ground and help, and a brief spell does not solve the drought."

Another farmer in his 70s said, "We are pumping river water to supply the paddies, but there isn't much river water," and added, "The rain that fell a few days ago is far from enough to farm rice."

(Photo: Yonhap News)