(EDITORIAL from the Korea Times on April 29)

Revival of rivers
In every respect but two, the government's "four-river restoration project" is a
replica of its allegedly abandoned "Grand Canal Plan."

The river-refurbishing project calls for pouring 14 trillion won into the
construction of 16 reservoirs and small dams as well as massive dredging to widen
and deepen riverbeds until 2012. The difference? Yes, the total project cost is a
bit down from the 17 trillion of the canal plan, but officials admit actual
spending could grow sharply once the work starts.
They also say refurbishing of large rivers has nothing to do with canals, as they
have no plan to build sluices and ferry terminals, which, however, can mean all
they need is a slight change of designs to turn them into canals. Koreans are
used to that kind of changing words ??? and minds ??? by policymakers.
President Lee Myung-bak was rather more straightforward when he described it as a
"once-in-a-century, multipurpose national project," in which foreign leaders
showed unusual interests during the recent G20 summit.
Admittedly, the importance of efficient water management can hardly be
overemphasized, but most neutral experts are skeptical at best whether the
river-revival project, in which they find little difference from canals without
floodgates and boats, can fulfill that purpose without leaving an environmental
disaster, which will require several times more time and money for recovery if it
is possible at all.
First of all, the flood and drought controls, the allegedly biggest beneficial
effect of the project, are hard to expect, as it is the areas nearby rivulets,
not the mainstreams, that need them most. It has also repeatedly proved that
agricultural reservoirs are of little help for either purpose.
The improvement of water quality, the second goal of this project, should be
closer to a farce, even without quoting an old saying, "Standing water is bound
to go bad." It was only weeks ago a government-funded environmental think tank
had to withdraw its study results to that effect.
Third, the officials argue the project would create GDP worth 23 trillion won and
190,000 jobs. As shown in the replacement of digging work by excavators, the
number of new jobs is estimated to stop at 50,000, temporary openings that are
far from knowledge-based, future-oriented works.
The fourth and last desired effect is the balanced regional development by
building tourism-leisure complexes along the major rivers. It is hard to
understand how the parks and other recreational facilities built of concrete in
uniform shapes could attract tourists, who are drawn more these days to natural
habitats and ecological paradises.
Moreover, when almost half of investment is directed toward Nakdong River area,
President's Lee's power base, balanced development could hardly be more than a
slogan in the first place. Already, the aggregate sum of budget requests from
rivaling regions has reportedly reached 140 trillion won, 10 times the projected
cost.
President Lee needs to take his foreign counterparts' diplomatic praises with a
grain of salt. Instead, he should listen to opposing views not as a gesture of
political magnanimity but with genuine sincerity not to go down as an
environmental destroyer.
(END)