• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.37-37
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• 2012

The study aims to evaluate the complexity of relationships between the riparian states - China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia - in the Mekong River Basin since the mid-1990s with special reference to the discourse on hydropower development. A special emphasis will be put on the influence of China on hydropower development. Although a variety of issues on the river basin have been discussed among the riparian states, none of them has been effectively implemented owing to the lack of China's commitment to the discussions for sustainable water management. Now, a new turning point is observed in the region with emergence of the issue on hydropower development, not only in the upper basin but also in the lower basin. The discourse on hydropower in Mekong has quickly drawn attention of the public, accelerated by the onset of construction of the Xayabury Dam in Laos since November 2010. The influence of China as the upstream country with its political, economic, and military power has increasingly grown in the region over the last few decades, and such trend recently intensifies together with an expansion of Chinese commercial interests in the region. Since the establishment of the Mekong River Commission (MRC) in 1995, the four MRC members have striven to push forward a sustainable use of water resources in the basin. But the legitimacy of the MRC system has been eroded due to the lack of participation by Myanmar and China, and in particular, the Chinese absence has made the four riparian states blind about the change of water regime due to the Chinese dams upstream. Environmental damages due to hydropower development might be possible, including a drop of fish yields, crop production, and damages to the river's ecosystems. Vietnam and Cambodia have already expressed their concerns over the dam construction towards China as well as Laos by pointing out detrimental impacts of the dams to their economies. China's move to collaborate with the other riparian states since 2010 has given a positive signal in terms of sustainable water management in the river. However, this phenomenon never confirms China's proactive contribution to the cooperative activities within the framework of the MRC system. Laos' initiative to build a new dam in the lower basin alarms those who are opposed to dam construction in the fear of its far-reaching damages to the environment. The question goes back to the year-long debate on policy priorities given to economic growth or the environment. The riparian states require wisdom based on a consensus about sustainable water use rather than hydropower development based on individual growth dreams.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.169-188
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• 2024

Recently, Korean government has incorporated the assessment and restoration of river continuity as a key component of its integrated water management policy. While, methodologies for evaluating discontinuities and degradation, as well as the procedures for assessment and restoration, have been developed and proposed, there is a need for further improvement. Therefore, further research is required to establish a conceptual framework for continuity specific to domestic river ecosystems and to formulate appropriate assessment methods and restoration strategies. In this study we conduct a comparative analysis of the concepts, restoration approaches, and comprehensive evaluation methods for river continuity as proposed by Japan, the United States, and the European Union (EU), all of which have long-standing frameworks for river continuity assessment and restoration projects. Each country demonstrates distinct objectives and guidelines: Japan emphasizes habitat continuity within the context of river and watershed continuity, the United States integrates continuity as a tool for watershed management, and the EU prioritizes biodiversity conservation by advocating for the removal of artificial barriers and promoting the restoration of free-flowing rivers (FFR). By investigating these international examples, this study provides insights that can guide the development of long-term strategies and evaluation criteria for securing aquatic ecosystem continuity in Korea.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.30 no.12
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• pp.1225-1230
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• 2008

A new approach based on the Seasonal Mann-Kendall Trend Analysis, was presented in this paper, in order to estimate effect of water quality management policy in Kyoungan Stream which is one of major tributaries into the Lake Paldang. The estimation was undertaken by comparing water quality trend slopes before and after implementation of the policy. The monthly water quality data of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Total Nitrogen (TN) and Total Phosphorus (TP) measured from 1992 to 2005, were analyzed to determine the Kendall slopes before and after the Han River special policy implemented at 1998. The results indicated that the 1998 special policy would be effective in water quality improvement not at upstream but at downstream. This result agrees well with the previous water quality studies at Kyoungan stream. It was suggested that the presented approach could be an useful tool to estimate effect of a water quality management policy.

• Water for future
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.335-345
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• 1985

The purpose of stochastic models for synthetic generation of river flows based on the short-term observed data is to provide abundant input data to the water resources systems of which the system performance and operation policy are to be determined beforehand. Among many of such models the Monte Carlo Method of synthetic generation, which is usually known to be appropriate for annual data generation, is employed to check if it can be applied for the generation of monthly flows. For the purpose of comparisons the statistical parameters of the generated monthly flows by Monte Carlo model based on the appropriate probability distribution for each month were compared with those of the generated flows by Thoms-Fiering multiseason model and with those of the observed monthly flows. On the other hand, the statistical parameters of the annual river flows obtained by adding the generated monthly flows year by year based on the Monte Carlo and Thomas-Fiering models were compared with those of the annual flows generated directly by annual Monte Carlo model with reference to those for the observed annual river flows. Based on the above comparative studies, the discussions are made and conclusions derived.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.723-731
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• 2015

We investigated the spatial and temporal patterns of water quality in the Gangjung-Goryoung weir that is located in the middle area of the Nakdong river, Korea. The monitoring results indicated that there are discernible vertical differences in water quality during the pre- and post-monsoon periods (May to September). During this period, it was observed that the weak thermal stratification formed at the maximum level, and pH, Chl-a, and DO concentrations in the surface layer were higher than those in the bottom layer. This vertical difference was especially noticeable for DO concentrations: there were DO depletions at the bottom layer in late June to early August. During the summer monsoon period with heavy rainfall, there was a decline in vertical differences in water quality. From this study, it was suggested that continuous monitoring of vertical profiles could become a useful tool for identifying the spatial and temporal distributions of water quality and for developing the best management policy for water quality in the Nakdong river.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.62 no.5
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• pp.15-26
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• 2020

There are fifteen non-point pollution management areas in Korea and three of them (Doam lake, Daegi district and Golji-cheon) are located in the upstream of the Namhan river watershed. Many efforts to reduce non-point sources (NPS) pollution have been conducted, however, water quality pollution in the watershed is still serious. To solve these problems, it is a priority to grasp water quality using statistical techniques. In this study, a trend analysis was conducted to evaluate the effect of NPS management in the watershed. The long-term trends from 1996 to 2018 of water quality properties were analyzed using data collected from the water environment information system. Seventeen monitoring stations were selected along the main stream in Namhan river basin. Monthly water quality properties (BOD, COD, TN, TP, TN/TP ratio, Conductivity, SS and Chlorophyll-a) were collected and analyzed by Mann-Kendall test and LOWESS. The results showed that the Conductivity tended to increase in all regions and was the highest level in Jijangcheon. Organic pollution such as BOD and COD tended to increase in the Jungseon area. SS did not show a large tendency, but it showed high concentration in the Doam watershed. In all regions, 40% of water quality properties showed a tendency to 'UP', 15% of water quality properties tended to 'DOWN', and 46% indicated no tendency. In order to determine the cause of this, additional research and measures for improvement are necessary. This study will be used for the establishment of water quality policy in the future.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.436-446
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• 2015

It is suggested investigating method about the existing state of demand in this study. The total demand of 357 water amenity zones in 2014 is estimated based on the growth curve models. The effects of population density and distances between water amenity zones and metropolises populated over 1 million are investigated on each river system. The suitability like RMSE and MAPE of logistic and gompertz models are considered to select more suitable model for each water amenity zone. Demand for water amenity zones in 2014 is seemed to be rather high at Han Gang river system and Chungcheongbukdo after analyzing. The influence of population density is rarely effective except Geum Gang river system. The influence of metropolis on the demand for water amenity zones is higher at Geum Gang river system than others.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.154-171
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• 2010

This study was performed to show criteria of a National Ecological Network (NEN) for South Korea and it was a part of a study of ecological network for broad areas on national land showed by Ministry of Environment of Korea. After 1970s, many european countries presented methods and criteria not on individual protected area but on networking among many habitats. The PEEN (Pan European Ecological Network) and NATURA 2000 are results of those. In South Korea, concepts and mapping metheods of ecological network was studied but those were not applied to the whole national land because the equality and local specialities were not reflected. So, in this study, we presented the criteria composed of forest, river, wildlife and coastal evaluation items in conservation ecology and showed the mapping method which can applied to the national land. After the evaluation on land area which composed of forest, river and wildlife axis. Core areas were $30,616km^2$, buffer zone were $21,870km^2$ and each accounted for 31% and 22% of the national land. Except for Taebaeck-Gangwon region, whole region's core areas were accounted for 20~30% of it and buffer zone were accounted for 20~25% of it, so these can be applied to the national land with equality and local specialities. Forest axis and river axis were clearly linear and connected, but the wildlife axis was dispersed in point form. Therefore, to apply the NEN, a detailed habitat map is important and the interconnected implementation of forest, river, wildlife, and coastal axis is required.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.355-360
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• 2021

As the domestic water management policy shifted from concentration-oriented water management to load management-centered Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), water quality and aquatic ecosystems brought changed. However, it was difficult to determine whether the water quality and the health of the aquatic ecosystem improved after the implementation of the TMDL due to changes in pollutant sources and discharge fluctuations ect, so the effect was analyzed using a log-linear model and biological indicators (Benthic Macroinvertebrates). As a result, BOD and T-P concentrations in the Jinwi River Watershed were reduced by 30% and 35%, showed the effect of improving water quality, however the benthic macroinvertebrates index (BMI) downgraded from grade D to grade E. Therefore, efforts to cultivate ecologicalrivers are necessary to upgrade the health of the aquatic ecosystem in the river watershed.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.215-223
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• 2019

In this study, we analyzed the water quality characteristics of major tributaries of Nakdong River through statistical analysis such as correlation analysis, principal component and factor analysis, and cluster analysis. Organic matter and nutrients are highly correlated, and are high in spring and autumn, and seasonal water quality management is required. Principal component and factor analysis showed that 82% of total variance could be explained by 4 principal components such as organic matter, nutrients, nature, and weather. BOD, COD, TOC, and TP items were analyzed as major influencing factors. As a result of the cluster analysis, the four clusters were classified according to seasonal organic matter and nutrient pollution. Kumho River watershed showed high pollution characteristics in all seasons. Therefore, effective management of water quality in tributary streams requires measures in consideration of spatio-temporal characteristics and multivariate statistical techniques may be useful in water quality management and policy formulation.