Successful Water Supply Pleased Farmers

So-called Saegegol in Euntan-ri, MoonBaek, Chungbuk, yesterday.

Looking at the gushing waters to the dried rice paddy, farmers wear big smiles that they had lost for a long time. They are witnessing a miraculous scene that they could not even imagine a few days ago.

The paddies of Saegegol totally dependent on rainwater are notorious for the difficulties of water supply in such drought weather as in this year. Due to the bedrock, even a tube well could not be dug and the narrow paths hindered the approach of the Remicon trucks. During the scorching dried weather this year, farmers could not help but looking up the sky.

They had already given up the multistage pumping. They tried in vain a ten-stage pumping connection through water hoses from the Mihocheon Lake, 4 km away from the village, 1995.

``We used ten power cultivators at that time to pump up the waters but the water hoses blasted out very quickly. We could not keep a constant water pressure since the rice field was 100 meter higher than the lake and the water hoses had to pass through rocky roads,`` said village headperson Chung Jin-Young.

Thus, Jincheon county meeting to seek measures for the drought on June 4 virtually gave up finding any good measure for Saegegol. However, county governor Kim Kyong-Hee encouraged the members to find a good idea, saying ``we cannot let farmers give up farming. Let`s try again.``

Necessity is the mother of the invention. County governor Kim, who was visiting the village, gave an original idea, that is, trying the ten-stage pumping again but by digging small reservoirs at the every connection points to maintain a constant water pressure. It could be named as a ten-relayed water pumping. Mr. Kim also advised to put plastic paper at the bottom of the reservoirs to prevent the soaking of water to the ground.

County governor Kim was confident that the water supply to the Saegegol would be completed in a few days.

Jee Myung-Hun mhjee@donga.com