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2022. September VOL. 654
- 2022. September VOL. 654
- ENG
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2022. September VOL. 654
1
K-water held an all-hands meeting on August 8, 2022 at its Juam Dam branch office in Suncheon-si, Jeollanam-do to discuss ways of coping with droughts and examine measures to ensure sufficient water supply.
The pondage of 34 dams in the country is 92% of the average. Except Hangang River with a 112% pondage, other major dams have lower levels of pondage than average: Nakdonggang River basin with 74%; Geumgang River with 84%; and Seomjin River with 64%. A total of 11 dams are managed as drought level.
K-water has been building up dam water reserves by reducing the amount of stream maintenance water for dams managed at drought level, based on consultations with related organizations. In addition, it has been ensuring that the dam water remains at an optimal level by taking advantage of all the resources available including alternative water sources by connecting different dams for flexible water flows, securing water intake from rivers and streams, and developing agricultural reservoirs.
Despite all these proactive efforts, droughts continued in the southern region. K-water had to come up with plans to store more water by further connecting different water sources, i.e., between dams and dams, or dams and rivers, while seeking diverse approaches to saving water by working closely with other public organizations.
2
K-water launched the ‘K-water College Student Supporters’ to raise public awareness of the values and importance of water and to improve ESG communication with the public. Now in its 16th year, the K-water College Student Supporters held a launching ceremony at the K-water head office on August 9 to start their official activities.
The launching ceremony, which was held online due to safety concerns amid the pandemic, featured ESG-themed programs.
The highlight of the event was the video showing the one-month journey of the college student supporters who traveled across the country looking for hidden waterways. In addition, the event included activities designed to help understand and experience ESG such as upcycling old banners into eco-bags, making a pledge to practice ESG, and watching an eco-friendly waterway travelogue.
The supporters will continue with their activities until November to carry out the mission of raising public awareness of the value of water both online and offline.
3
K-water held the ‘K-water Scholarship Communication Camp 2022’ at its Human Resources Development Center on August 13 and 14, 2022. K-water Scholarship was launched in 2020 to develop future human resources by supporting youths in areas where K-water is operating its businesses. It is offering scholarships to over 200 middle and high school students for up to five years as well as various forms of non-financial support including mentoring, career counseling, and academic counseling.
Under the slogan ‘We are the Future’ some 50 students who are recipients of the K-water scholarship joined the camp and performed various activities. The camp provided them with an opportunity to have a greater sense of pride as K-water scholarship recipients, with the lectures on dream and passion instilling an indomitable spirit and a strong sense of purpose in them.
The camp also included team activities such as the Golden Bell quiz and a mock stock investment contest as well as special lectures by writer Ju Ho-min and magician Choi Hyun-u. A group of college student mentors mostly from Chungnam National University and Pusan National University.
4
K-water, together with the Community Chest of Korea and Public Workers’ Solidarity Fund, is receiving stories from citizens under the ‘2022 Happy Water Project’ from August 12 to September 9, 2022 to improve the water-using environment for socially marginalized households across the country. The project is one of K-water’s major social contribution activities to improve the water-using environment for low-income families including kitchens and bathrooms. K-water has been improving the water-using environment at 640 places under the project since 2014.
The project specifically includes the following: repairing old water-using spaces including kitchens and bathrooms; building new bathrooms or completely remodeling old-style bathrooms and toilets; and fixing or installing pipes in the water supply or sewage systems. In particular, K-water and Public Workers’ Solidarity Fund have worked together to increase the amount of support from the initial 500 million won to 600 million won. For more information, please visit K-water’s communication platform Danbi TokTok (www.kwater.or.kr/danbitoktok). Those interested can apply for support on the online board.
5
K-water employees donated 100 million won to the Korea Disaster Relief Association on August 23 to help those affected by the recent torrential downpour. The donated money will be used to supply relief items to victims of the downpour in Seoul, Gyeonggi-do, Gangwon-do, Chungcheongbuk-do, and Chungcheongnam-do, and to support recovery efforts in the affected regions.
In addition, K-water employees provided relief items including bottled water and daily necessities and participated in relief efforts.
From August 8 to 18, K-water provided approximately 130,000 bottles of drinking water to 9 local governments in Gyeonggi-do, Chungcheongbuk-do, and Chungcheongnam-do, and it is planning to deliver an additional 25,000 bottles of water to Gangwon-do residents. On August 19, K-water employees of the Chungnam Central Branch visited Eunsan-myeong, Buyeo-gun, Chungcheongnam-do to join in the relief efforts of removing the soil that slid into vineyards.
Employees of Hangang River Basin Headquarters, Gangwon Regional Cooperation Center, and Soyanggang Dam Branch pitched in part of their pay to raise around 30 million won, which will be used to buy and donate relief items to residents in Gangwon-do who were affected by the rain.
6
K-water held the completion ceremony for the 3rd floating photovoltaic system on Chungju Dam(Cheongpungho Lake) on August 31. As part of K-water’s efforts to promote eco-friendly water energy to cope with the accelerating climate change and achieve carbon neutrality, the project involves installing a 2.6MW floating photovoltaic system in the area in the vicinity of the first floating photovoltaic system on the dam.
The third system will be able to produce 3,462MWh clean energy that 1,400 families can use, reduce 1,581tons of carbon, and create an import substitution effect equivalent to approximately 6,000 barrels of crude oil.
Unlike the first two systems, the third system is designed to look like a flower so that it blends nicely with the surrounding natural environment. This unique design is expected to make it a new tourist spot once cruise ships start running; thus contributing to boosting the local economy.
The third system is special in the sense that it is the first project initiated at the proposal of local residents.
