• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.19-32
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• 2015

In Korea, significant riparian areas have been developed due to river maintenance projects. Introduction of new riparian facilities can negatively affect wildlife in the riparian areas. This study focuses on selecting core conservation areas for Eurasian Otter(Lutra lutra) to support decision making process for development of riparian areas. For the study, first of all, field data of study site were collected by field surveys. Secondly, stream naturalness was assessed to understand physical environments of the study sites. Thirdly, habitat suitability was assessed using occurrence data of Eurasian Otter and environmental data. Lastly, core areas for conservation was selected by comparing and synthesizing stream naturalness map and habitat suitability map. The selected core areas showed several characteristics. The number of artificial facilities is low in the core areas. Rocks which are preferred by Eurasian Otter to eat and excrete are plentiful in the core areas. Also, the ratio of adjacent farmland is high. Based on the analyses, it is expected that this study can contribute to decision making process for environmental spatial plans to better conserve habitats of Eurasian Otter.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.21-35
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• 2009

To propose a sound direction for river rehabilitation plan, the naturalness of the river must be evaluated. In this study, the conventional methods for evaluating the naturalness of rivers proposed by Park, et al. has been improved to estimate the weights for each items subject to assessment and applied adequate Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). To estimate the weights, survey was conducted on a group of 83 experts in Civil and Environmental Engineering with a customized questionnaire. The results of the survey were generalized and used to estimate the weights of each items. Among the 14 evaluation items that have been generated as a result of the estimation, a total of 7 weight values such as water quality, variations in water flow, vegetation around minor bed, curve of waterway, vegetation around flood plain, variety in minor bed width, and diversity of stream bed materials appeared to be high. The improved method for evaluating the naturalness of rivers was applied to Hoe-ya River, where the method has successfully discriminated the sections having low degree of naturalness. The proposed assessment method can be employed as a criterion to determine the business zones in the river environment maintenance projects.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.40 no.7
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• pp.503-510
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• 2007

In the area of such a nature-friendly stream improvement, it is not established yet which engineering method is suitable for stream environment, due to lack of technology. Therefore, although nature-friendly stream improvement was done with expensive engineering method, the effect has not been fully confirmed, which results from the absence of overall valuation tool of stream improvement. In this regard, it is necessary to develop and apply comprehensive and diverse valuation methods covering stream functions to the analysis of stream improvement. In this study, we collected data from years' of monitoring on the Gyeongcheon river, which is located in Sunchang-eup, Jeollabuk-do and recently underwent an nature-friendly stream improvement work. Based on the data, we developed a series of valuation methods such as stream naturalness evaluation, life cycle evaluation, amenity evaluation, and economic benefit analysis to consider the environmental function of stream from a comprehensive perspective. Stream naturalness evaluation is a quantitative analysis of how natural a stream is, and includes additional valuation items such as ecosystem and water quality for the purpose of overall valuation, unlike existing research focusing on physical elements and structural characteristics of a stream. We developed a method of stream valuation with life cycle assessment to river reorganization project. Amenity evaluation method was developed as a means to analyze residents' satisfaction with stream improvement through questionnaires. Economic benefit analysis was developed as a means to determine the attributes of environmental water supply, ecosystem, river maintenance, and water quality and predict economic benefits using contingent valuation method (CVM) and multi-attribute utility analysis (MAUA) method in order to analyze economic benefits brought in by stream improvement. It is considered that the four methods developed in this study make possible to conduct an overall and quantitative analysis of stream improvement.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.311-321
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to investigate effect of stream channel naturalness on ecological health by using environmental factors and Fish Assessment Index (FAI) in the Han River of South Korea. These samples and data have been released from the research project titled Stream/River Ecosystem Survey and Health Assessment, which was conducted in 444 sites in the Han river watershed from 2008 to 2016. All samples were classified into five groups according to a degree of morphological changes of stream. Water chemistry analyses indicated a decline in water quality by decreasing stream channel naturalness, it is assumed that channelized stream was vulnerable to aquatic pollution compared to the natural meandering stream. In the result of frequency of dominant species, sensitive species and insectivore such as Zacco koreanus, Rhynchocypris kumgangensis and Pungtungia herzi were frequently dominated in the natural meandering stream while tolerant species and omnivores such as Carassius auratus and Cyprinus carpio were more dominated in the channelized streams. The FAI in the channelized stream shows decline to average of $46{\pm}25$ compared with that of the natural meandering stream ($80{\pm}20$). The decrease in FAI was highly influenced by changes in matrixes of fish assemblage structure such as number of sensitive species (M3), portion of omnivores (M5) and insectivores (M6). Moreover, annual average FAIs from 2008 to 2016 were significantly correlated with water chemistry, especially TN, TP and BOD ($r^2=0.59$, p<0.0001). Taken together, all the results suggest that the stream channelization could negatively impact on the water quality and fish assemblage structure, leading to degradation in aquatic ecosystem health.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.647-657
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• 2018

This study was carried out to review as criteria for zoning at management plan for river restoration, in case of naturalness of river environment and suitability of water friendly activity suggested at assessment system of river environment in Korea. As a result of reviewing law and guidelines concerned, historic & cultural resources used as criteria for preservation zone, it was judged that the historical and cultural value as the preservation zone needs to be examined in connection with waterfriendly activity zone. In this study, we propose a sequential evaluation method to distinguish the waterfriendly activity zone by applying suitability of waterfriendly activity reflecting land use social characteristics, followed division of preservation and restoration zone at the first stage by the naturalness of river environment reflecting the natural environmental characteristics as a result of application to the test bed, Gap and Yudeung streams. In particular, it was concluded that the results of the present study provided more clear criteria for the problem that the last criteria for zoning did not reflect the difference between the left and the right side of stream, or the designation of the excessive water friendly zone. On the other hand, the criteria for designation in this study reflect the characteristics of various river environments as well as the setting of assessment unit based on the physical characteristics of rivers, and other legal regulations and local situations should be adjusted and supplemented in administrative procedures.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.73-92
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to establish the conservation and restoration areas for sustainable stream management by reflecting the ecological health, cultural characteristics, and the citizens' needs for stream uses. Therefore, we extended spatial ranges of stream evaluation to riparian areas in addition to stream sections. The evaluation indexes are stream naturalness, availability, biota assessment, and riparian characteristics such as land uses and legally protected areas. The grading system was unified with five classes. The spatial evaluation units for stream section are classified as right and left for laterally and 500m for longitudinally. For riparian areas, 30m and 100m of distance from the edge of stream are applied as spatial evaluation units. The six types of stream sections for management are conservation sections(priority/general) and restoration sections(priority/general) for ecological landscape and core and general sections for cultural landscape. The established system for evaluation and designating areas for stream management was applied to Jeonjucheon and Samcheon in Jeonju-si, and the conservation and restoration areas were designated reflecting the characteristics of urban and non-urban areas and left and right of stream sections. The results of this study will provide detailed guidelines for designating stream sections and practical management strategies for sustainable urban stream management.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.903-916
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• 2012

We need to use aesthetic landscape assessment(ALA) as the means of riparian buffer zone(RBZ) management. This study verified the political validity of designation policy of RBZ and land purchase policy. The purpose of this study was to propose RBZ landscape management strategies through ALA of RBZ in Gyeongan Stream for the better attractive and healthy riparian landscapes. The natural type landscape units(LUs) covered 40.9% of the entire area and the cultivated land type LUs covered 20.58%. Landscape assessment consisted of landscape quality and landscape integration assessment. The criteria for assessing landscape quality(LQ) were naturalness, interest, uniqueness, and landscape function. LQ was ranked into five grades using a matrix. The landscape integration assessment consisted of an inner integration assessment in each LU and outer integration assessment among LUs. To review the propriety of designating the riparian area and the riparian ecological belt, differences in ecological appraisal and aesthetic valuation were reviewed through a t-test, Oneway ANOVA, and logistic analysis. The results of ALA, 29.15% of the entire area scored at grade 1 in LQ, while 31.95% scored at grade 5, indicating that grade 5 areas occupied a high share. Surveyed areas were divided into designated RBZ and undesignated RBZ. Results indicated that designated RBZ scored grade 1 in LQ took up 33.2% of the total, significantly higher than the 23.3% taken up by undesignated RBZ. When examined according to buffer distance, grade 1 areas within 50m took up 50.2% of the total area, lower than the 32.7% at buffer distances of 500m-1km. Results indicated a 1% statistically significant difference. Accordingly, analysis was undertaken for the expansion of designation of the riparian area and the selection of appropriate land for formation of a riparian ecological belt, and was designated at priority 1 and 2 for land purchase. This study can also contribute to the formation of a riverine eco-belt through discovery of design factors for upgrading the ecology, aesthetics, and landscape of the riparian area and application in determining land purchase priorities.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.114-127
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• 2010

This study aimed at reviewing the case examples of environmental assessment of development projects within management zones, identifying problems and improvement opportunities and suggesting the direction of environmental assessment for management zones that are increasingly segmented Findings showed that first, the assessment of environment soundness in management zones must incorporate the national land environmental map and wide-area ecological axes established by the Ministry of Environment. Second, regarding development activities in management zones, rather than an issue of simply destroying natural environment in a development site itself during a development period, an issue of permanently isolating ecosystems from surrounding areas in a mid/long-term perspective and continually polluting water in mid-stream/upstream regions where sites are located must be considered. Third, in the case of development projects with vast areas, existing plant communities will be disturbed and the naturalness of vegetation will gradually decline due to foreign tree species introduced for landscape architecture. Therefore, creating buffer forests at forest boundaries and planting native tree species that are same as nearby tree species must be examined. Last but not least, when assessing the environmental soundness of management zones, it would be crucial to comprehensively review the environmental, social and locational features of management zones, including surrounding areas, and set the direction of environmental assessment accordingly.

• Journal of Environmental Policy
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.67-96
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• 2012

The Ministry of Environment in Korea has been promoting the urban stream restoration project for paved streams in cities as the restored Cheonggyecheon. As an elementary study for suggesting policy implications for the project, cost and benefit criteria for an ex-post analysis on the Cheonggyecheon project is suggested in this study. The ex-ante analysis were reviewed critically by focusing on the cost and benefit criteria. Ex-post analysis plan in this study is developed considering the standard guideline of pre-feasibility, the theory of cost-benefit analysis, and the review results. The costs for compensating lands, amending conflicts, researching rivers, and maintaining water quantity were also included. For the benefits, this study proposes to estimate the benefits with the assessment on naturalness of stream. The results are expected to contribute to increase the efficiency of the urban stream restoration project and evaluate the project to match better with the meaning of the river restoration.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.189-203
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to build a GIS database that can utilized to provide a multi-dimensional analysis of aquatic health ecosystem. Especially, it was to build a GIS database for comprehensive analysis using the aquatic ecosystem health. So we collected data on aquatic ecosystem health assessment, Korea Reach File(KRF), Stream Naturalness and Water Environmental Information System, and detailed analysis of the collected data was performed. In addition, the core objects were extracted from individual data and a related entity was derived by pulling out the items associated with thematic characteristics and classifying them. The establishment of GIS database makes it possible to support the decision making for the user to quickly understand the information of water environment. Therefore, the database will provide the information for the effective management on water environment.