Drought Puts 37 Regions on Alert Nationwide

As Gangneung entered water rationing amid a severe drought, 37 other cities and counties nationwide were found to be similarly vulnerable to becoming a “second Gangneung.” The tally covers jurisdictions that rely on no more than one source of household water and also record higher water pipe leakage rates than Gangneung. With climate change fueling sudden droughts, experts say expanding and diversifying local water sources is urgent.

A Dong-A Ilbo analysis on Sept. 8 of Environment Ministry water-supply statistics and data from the National Drought Information Portal found that 107 of the country’s 161 cities and counties, or 66.5 percent, either lack multipurpose dams, water-supply dams, and reservoirs or have only one. Among them, 37 had water pipe leakage rates higher than Gangneung’s 23.4 percent, a factor that directly worsens household water shortages. In one of those areas, Sangju in North Gyeongsang Province, a drought advisory was issued that day (Sept. 8).

Five jurisdictions had less stored water than Gangneung. The clearest case is Mungyeong in North Gyeongsang Province, which relies almost entirely on the Gyeongcheon Lake reservoir for household water. Its stored volume was 110,000 cubic meters, about one-twentieth of Gangneung’s 2.03 million cubic meters. Its leakage rate was 37.9 percent, or 1.6 times Gangneung’s. “This year has been unusually dry, and all the cabbages have already withered,” said Cheon Jeong-ho, 86, who has lived in Mungyeong for nearly 30 years. Yeongdeok County, Gurye County in South Jeolla Province, Yeongdong County in North Chungcheong Province, and Pyeongchang County in Gangwon Province also reported less stored water than Gangneung.

Lee Kang-geun, a professor of earth and environmental sciences at Seoul National University, said, “When a single surface-water source such as a dam or reservoir is relied on, drought vulnerability rises, as seen in Gangneung. Regions need alternative sources suited to local conditions, including underground dams and rainwater.”


이수연 기자 lotus@donga.com