Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs decided to execute the annual commitment with KRW 240 billion budget for maintenance of national rivers’ 61 spots (2,979 km) including the Project sector (1,956 km) from the next year 2012. Giving consideration to the fact that maintenance expenditure by municipalities was KRW 25 billion a year (incl. KRW 5 million of subsidy from central government), the scale of budget might as well get almost 10 times bigger.

Maintenance costs increased, as the scope needed to be maintained as weirs, esplanades and new ecoparks by the project were getting larger. Hong Hyeong-pyo, project manager of Office of National River Restoration, said, “At present, Seoul HQ of Han River Restoration annually invests budget of KRW 47 billion (KRW 1.1 billion per kilometer) to maintain 42 km of the river. Meanwhile, maintenance for the Four Major Rivers merely costs KRW 80 million per kilometer so that it corresponds to just 10% of Seoul’s case.”

The Ministry of Land determined to allot a portion of the work. For instance, major facilities like dams, weirs and dredging are to be under control of central government or consigned to Korea Water Resources Corporation (K-Water). The Ministry of Land is going to generalize the masterplan establishment for maintenance and affiliated management with dam, weir and reservoir as well as supervision on the principal facilities. As to the maintenance and management of sixteen multifunctional weirs, two flood control centers in the mainstream of the Four Major Rivers and Culture Pavilion, K-Water will take exclusive charge. And local municipalities will take management for the rest rivers besides the Four Major River, such as the Taehwa River or the Manngyeong River, as well as esplanades, bike trails, eco-parks, wetland and other waterfront areas.


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