The bed of Muan Stream is exposed in Muan-myeon, Miryang, South Gyeongsang, on Aug. 10.AN DAE-HUN
MIRYANG, CHANGWON, South Gyeongsang — The bed of Muan Stream in Moro Village in Muan-myeon lay barely soaked, instead exposed to the prolonged heat and drought on Monday morning. The stream, flanked by farmland on both sides, had been bone-dry for about two weeks. Clouds of dust rose whenever someone stepped on its bed.
The Muan-myeon community office had recently dug a long trench, 2 to 3 meters (6.6 to 9.8 feet) deep into the streambed in hopes of collecting groundwater flowing beneath the parched bed, so it can be supplied to nearby farmland. The water collected in the pit was being supplied to the village pumping station beyond the stream bank through a couple of pipes.
There are 13 such groundwater-collection trenches in Muan and Chodong neighborhoods in Miryang alone. They were dug after agricultural reservoirs in the two areas began exposing their beds this month. As of Monday, Garye and Ungdong reservoirs in Muan-myeon and Waji Reservoir in Chodong-myeon had storage rates of just 2.6 to 4.5 percent, equivalent to 3.6 to 6.8 percent of their seasonal averages.
Water is being pumped from Cheongdo Stream, about 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) away, through pipelines to replenish Garye Reservoir. From last Wednesday through Friday, 22 Korea Forest Service firefighting vehicles were also deployed to Muan- and Chodong-myeon to deliver more than 500 metric tons (132,086 gallons) of water each day to rice paddies and fields.
On Sunday, Miryang entered the “very severe” stage, the highest level of the agricultural water drought response system. The designation applies when reservoir storage falls below 40 percent of the seasonal average, indicating extreme drought. The city’s reservoir storage rate stood at around 25 percent Monday, equivalent to about 34 percent of its seasonal average.
The worsening shortage has even forced farmers to resort to old village wells that had gone unused for decades.
“The well went unused because its water contains a lot of limestone, but the one we had been using has dried up, so we have no choice. The rice is heading now, so we have to keep watering it,” said Moon, a rice farmer in his 70s. “Farmers are hauling water from streams several kilometers away and digging into dry streambeds in search of any remaining supply. It is utter chaos. I have farmed for 40 years and have never seen anything like this.”
A rice farmer in his 70s connects a hose to an old village well that had not been used for decades in Muan-myeon, Miryang, South Gyeongsang, on Aug. 10.AN DAE-HUN
The deepening drought across southern Korea is taking an increasing toll on farmers. The extreme heat has eased somewhat, but more than a month with virtually no rain has depleted agricultural water supplies. The central and local governments have deployed wildfire response vehicles, fire engines and water trucks to irrigate rice paddies and fields, and are using river water to replenish reservoirs. The measures, however, fall far short of ending the drought.
The average storage rate at the country’s 2,541 agricultural reservoirs stood at 48.4 percent as of 2 p.m. Monday, equivalent to 72.3 percent of the seasonal average, according to the Rural Agricultural Water Resource Information System.
Storage rates were substantially below average across southern regions, where rainfall has been particularly scarce. The average rates in South Gyeongsang and Ulsan stood at 34.4 percent and 34 percent, respectively, both below their seasonal averages of 48.9 percent and 43.7 percent.
North Jeolla followed at 41.2 percent, Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City at 42.1 percent, North Gyeongsang at 45.5 percent, Daegu at 45.8 percent and Jeju at 46.4 percent. Seventeen of South Gyeongsang’s 18 cities and counties, all except Hamyang County, have entered an emergency drought response stage for agricultural water.
Of the 17, Miryang, Geoje and Haman are the only three municipalities in the province currently at the “very severe” stage. Changwon is at the “severe” stage, with its storage rate at 40.4 percent of the seasonal average and approaching the “very severe” threshold.
Junam Reservoir, Changwon’s largest agricultural reservoir, has fallen below a 40 percent storage rate for the first time since it was created in the 1970s. The reservoir has a usable capacity of 5.59 million metric tons and supplies water to 927 hectares (2,291 acres) of farmland in Daesan-myeon and Dong-eup in Changwon and Jinyeong-eup in Gimhae.
Muan Stream runs dry in Miryang, South Gyeongsang, on Aug. 10.AN DAE-HUN
Up to 14,000 metric tons of water are evaporating naturally from Junam Reservoir each day. Virtually no rain has fallen for nearly 40 days, while scorching sunshine has continued day after day.
Daytime highs in Changwon, as measured at the North Changwon observation station, began exceeding 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) early last month and surged to 41 degrees on Aug. 2. That was the second-highest daily maximum temperature ever recorded nationwide.
The Changwon branch of the Korea Rural Community Corporation has pumped between 50,000 and 55,000 metric tons of water a day from the Nakdong River into the reservoir since late last month. That has been barely enough to maintain the current water level because between 90,000 and 100,000 metric tons are supplied to farms each day.
“We have maintained the level at around 40 percent by conserving water and reducing supplies to once every two or three days since last week,” an official from the corporation’s Changwon branch said. “But if it does not rain, we will reach the limit by the end of August.”
Farmers drawing water from Junam Reservoir cultivate crops including dangam (sweet persimmons) and rice.
“It did not dry up this badly even during the 2018 drought,” said a farmer surnamed Lee in their 60s. “The leaves on the persimmon trees are drying out, and the trees are dying.”
BY AN DAE-HUN [kim.hayoon1@joongang.co.kr]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
