The Ministry of Environment announced that it will hold a ‘Briefing for Local Governments on the Promotion of the Aged Water Supply System Improvement Project’ at the Korean Railroad Corporation auditorium located in Dong-gu, Daejeon on February 19. This briefing is organized to prepare for droughts caused by climate change by refurbishing aging local water supply facilities and preventing large-scale water accidents.
Since 2017, the Ministry of Environment has been providing government funding to financially struggling local governments to carry out water supply system improvement projects. By last year, 199 projects had been conducted in 127 local governments, with a total of 2.7 trillion won in government funding invested. This year, 50 new projects will commence, including 43 pipeline refurbishments and 7 water treatment plant refurbishments.
Through the completion of 48 pipeline refurbishments and 16 water treatment plant refurbishments by last year, annual water loss was reduced by 69.3 million cubic meters, and the average water usage rate improved from 55.8% to 89.3%. The Ministry explained that this has enabled a more stable and clean water supply.
This briefing will share the direction of the aged water supply system improvement projects and excellent post-management cases with local government officers. In particular, with the revised operation guidelines at the end of last year, plans to improve budget execution rates and promote projects more efficiently by investigating priority projects will also be introduced.
According to the briefing schedule, the Ministry of Environment will explain the direction of the project and introduce excellent post-management cases from Hongcheon County. Additionally, Korea Water Resources Corporation will present case studies and preliminary technology review plans, and the Korea Water and Wastewater Works Association will explain examples and cautions related to post-management report reviews. Finally, a Q&A session will be held to address any questions from local government officers.
Lee Seung-hwan, Director of Water Use Policy at the Ministry of Environment, stated, “It is important to smoothly execute the newly launched projects and continuously maintain the achievements of the completed projects,” adding, “We will provide maximum support to ensure that local government officers can efficiently carry out related projects.”