By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter

Water shortage nationwide appears to have reached a tipping point, with one local government chief asking that the central government designate the region a disaster zone.

While the weather agency forecast the drought in the central eastern region of Gangwon Province to remain until May, households, public facilities and even hotels and resorts are regulating their water usage.

Gangwon Governor Kim Jin-sun requested Friday that the central government make his province a disaster-struck area and asked for 131 billion won and aid to cope with water shortages.

Resorts and hotels have started to restrict water use, while people claim that drinking water is also running out. Water stored in Gwandong Dam will only last for about another 40 days, according to province officials.

Kim said, ``water storage facilities in the region are far more outdated than others and we need to think of constructing other dams.''

According to the Ministry of Environment, 99,244 people living in 807 villages nationwide are currently suffering from an acute water shortage. About 275 villages including Samcheok in Gangwon Province, Chungju and Gongju in Chungcheong Province, among others, are forced to rely on water trucks or fire engines to carry water to them four times a week. At the same time, Taebaek in Gangwon and Okcheon and Yesan in Chungcheong have also restricted water supplies to specific times.

About 17,000 households in the Taebaek area are surviving on about 50 percent of what is needed daily, with tap water running for just three hours a day.

``If the tap water runs once or twice in the morning, we save water for laundry and dish washing. We fetch potable water from a spring on the mountain, which takes about 20 minutes on foot,'' a 65-year-old resident said.

In 2008, the southern part of the country had a mere 46 percent of the average rainfall in previous years. The total rainfall in 2008 was 158 milliliters, the third lowest since 1973.

The weather phenomenon La Nina ― an increased cooling phase in the eastern Pacific with a strengthening of trade winds causing a dry period ― has affected the Korean Peninsula and caused the drought, weather experts say.

Rice paddies have already dried up, while forests are dry enough to allow potential forest fires to develop rapidly, the fire department said.

``If such a drought goes on, rice planting which is supposed to start next month, will be in serious trouble,'' a government official said.

The Korea Meteorological Administration forecast the rainfall from February to May to be 298 milliliters, about the same as the average in previous years.

``The annual amount of rainfall seems adequate because we had a rainy season in the summer. However, other than that short period, we had a lack of it,'' an administration spokesman said.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has supplied 60,000 bottles of Arisu, commercial drinkable tap water, to the drought areas and other local administrations have also promised supplies.

The environment ministry decided to provide an extra 50 billion won this month for emergency measures. Pipelines and supply systems will be repaired, while the development of new water resources will be pushed by 2012.

bjs@koreatimes.co.kr