By Choi Yearn-hong
WASHINGTON, D.C. ― President Lee Myung-bak's four major river projects have been criticized by many Korean intellectuals, including so-called environmentalists and opposition politicians on the left side of the political spectrum.
However, I don't see any defects in the four-river projects ― they have a good purpose. Rivers need maintenance for the dry and flooding seasons, pollution prevention and removal, dam repairs and remodeling work, wetland restoration projects, and biological and chemical surveys.
The projects require the government to invest huge sums of money.
President Lee made a good speech calling for an international alliance of water resources management at the 2009 United Nations Conference. He became well-known as the mayor of Seoul for his Cheonggye Stream Restoration Project.
As the president of Korea, his environmentalist's image has been tarnished by his proposed canal project connecting the Han and Nakdong rivers for navigation. This was silly. Since then, he seems to have recreated his political image as an environmentalist.
U.S. President Barack Obama and South Korean President Lee have one thing in common: an environmental mandate from their people.
In this situation, I would like to propose that Korean schools, colleges and universities, the Korea Water Resources Corp., and environmental groups adopt something like the Potomac River Ramble Project.
I have participated in the Ramble and want to propagate it in Korea. Not many Korean people have adequate knowledge of their rivers, so that one idealistic environmental interest group or two have misled them against the government's project.
For example, dams are necessary for Korea's long dry seasons in order to store water. Dams are also necessary to control the floods in the summer months. The Imjin River needs a dam to reduce the impact of North Korea's release of water from their dams upstream.
I would like to propose that the backers of the four-river project create educational programs for each waterway. Understanding the rivers is essential for all Koreans. I was impressed by the Potomac River Ramble, which was held for four days and nights for a group of 45 to 50 people.
Korean schools, the water corporation and environmental groups should make orchestrated efforts to create the Han River Ramble, Nakdong River Ramble, Geum River Ramble and Yeongsan River Ramble. It will not cost much.
This kind of outdoor educational program can be designed for high school and college students and the local governmental leadership for their summer vacation.
I was born and raised in a Geum River village in North Chungcheong Province, so I got to know and understand the river at an early age. My question is: How many Korean people know their river?
Have you woken along the shores of a river to the sounds of birds and swirling water, and climbed into a canoe instead of a car for your day's travel? Have you stopped to explore the depths and shallows to see what kinds of critters live there?
On the 2009 Potomac River Ramble, for four days and nights, 45 curious explorers did just that and more. They became the river's guests, were moved by its hospitality and gained an understanding of the river like never before.
This year's Potomac River Ramble explored the Monocacy Scenic River, the major tributary of the Potomac, and the downstream portion of the river. The annual ramble seeks out new stretches of river in the watershed to explore, to highlight both its valuable resources and the issues that threaten them.
After spending four days and 40 miles on, in, and around a river, both its treasures and its troubles come into focus. The Potomac River is a little longer than the Han.
So, the Han River Ramble Program could encompass the Gyeongan Tributary and the Han River in 2009 or in 2010, or the watershed of the meeting of the north and south Han rivers, Yangsuri and Dumulli, not very far from Seoul.
On the first day, biologists from Hood College and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources engaged the group in a program about the invasive rusty crayfish. This aggressive creature is not a native to the Potomac watershed, but has found a way into the river. The group successfully navigated the rapids of a broken rubble dam at Michael's Mill and paddled into the first camp stop at a riverside park.
During dinner, a principal planner with Frederick County gave an informative presentation on how comprehensive land use planning can help manage and protect vital land and water resources. The river could be understood as part of the ecosystem, inseparable from the land.
The second day was designed for understanding the relationship between wastewater treatment plants and the water quality downstream affecting the fish and wildlife in the Potomac watershed. The evening program featured a speaker on the Chesapeake Bay Program, which helps restore the largest bay between the Potomac and the Atlantic.
On the third day, the group paddled to the main stream of the river and visited Mirant Mid-Atlantic Dickerson Power Plant. There, the ramblers learned about the company's efforts to reduce the impact of necessary power generation along the river.
New scrubbers are being installed that will remove most of the harmful mercury that currently escapes from the coal-fired plant's stacks. The evening campfire program was provided by the president of Wetland Studies and Solutions, Inc., at which the group learned about the innovative and celebrated Reston Valley Stream Restoration Bank.
Using the latest stream restoration techniques and years of experience, the company restored eroded stream channels in Reston, Va.
The final day provided a slower pace on the river and time to reflect about the trip, activities, people and camaraderie that developed over the days spent together.
We learned a lot about the valuable resources the river provides and the issues that stress its ecosystem. We gathered at the end of the trip to discuss our adventure, what we enjoyed most, how the trip could be changed to make it even more enjoyable, and what we would take away from our days spent on the water.
Rivers can be approached though various means, from poetry, art and photography to conservation, ecosystems and the environment. A river can be natural and primitive. But the river needs human understanding and care from the perspectives of conservation and environmental protection.
The four rivers in Korea require massive human care in order to supply drinking water for people, plants and wildlife, water for farm harvests and industrial purposes.
Young Korean students in high school and college should be exposed to the rivers. They should be ramblers along one of the four rivers and acquire ecological knowledge of it and its tributaries, watershed, buffer zone, people- and land-use planning, drinking water plants and wastewater facilities, water quality and pollution, and waterborne diseases.
Modern society needs environmental citizenship. I think the Korean people need a better understanding of this.
Dr. Choi is an environmentalist whose most current book is ``South Korea's Environmental Policy and Management.'' He can be reached at yearnhc@hanmail.net. The views expressed in the above article are the author's own and do not reflect the editorial policy of The Korea Times.