• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
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• v.11 no.10
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• pp.39-48
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• 2020

Purpose: Management of water is a crucial issue globally and is becoming more critical due to climate change. The purpose of this study is to explore water resource management by considering price and water usage based on river basins and to suggest more efficient residential water demand management in South Korea. Research Design, data, and methodology: This study applied data of water usage and water price of 15 regions in four major river basins by considering up and downstream locations from 1997 to 2017 collected by Ministry of Environment in Korea. This study applied regression analyses, ANOVA, and 2-Way ANOVA to verify its claims. Results: The results found that effects of price on water usage showed significant in many cities. The results also showed that means of water usages differ based on location (upstream and downstream) and river basins. Conclusion: The findings provide important policy and management implications for the improvement of water resource management in terms of demand. The results also indicate that water price should be reconsidered by comparing water price levels with those of OECD countries. Furthermore, the results imply that water management in Korea needs to improve in terms of supply to cope with climate change.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.319-328
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• 2014

Dorang - the Korean term for headwater streams - occupy a large portion of the total stream length in a basin, and contribute significantly towards the quantitative and qualitative characteristics, and the ecosystem, of the main river. The Ministry of Environment of South Korea has supported the investigation of the status of Dorang in the nation's four major basins, since 2007. Without a widely accepted academic or legal definition of Dorang, however, there are limits to understand the distribution of Dorang at the national scale and to systematically compile a Dorang database. This paper, through a review of the stream classification system and Korean legal system delineating streams, defines Dorang as 1st and 2nd order streams according to the Strahler ordering method, in a 1:25,000 geographical scale. Analysis of the Geum River basin, with this definition, reveals that the total length of Dorang is 20,622.4 km (73.6% of total stream length), and the number of Dorang catchments is 23,639 (71.3% of the basin area). Further analysis of the geomorphological characteristics of Dorang catchments shows that the average total stream length is 1.1 km, average catchment length is 1.2 km, average drainage area is $0.4km^2$, and average drainage density is 3.08/km.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.150-164
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• 2022

The objective of this study is to analyze the biodiversity changes and characteristics of the benthic macroinvertebrate community in the Nakdong River with eight weirs, which was constructed as one of the Four Major River Restoration Projects from May to October 2020. The study also includes the analysis of changes in the major groups of benthic macroinvertebrates for about ten years, from 2010 to 2020. The surveys collected 97 species of benthic macroinvertebrates belonging to 83 genera, 52 families, 18 orders, five classes, three phyla, and 128.1 individuals/m². Chironomidae sp. and Tubificidae spp., which are pollutant indicators, dominated throughout the sections. The community analysis result shows the average dominant index and the diversity index of 0.62±0.20 and 1.87±0.63, respectively, and indicated the most stability of the freshwater ecosystem in the upper stream of the Nakdong River. The survey showed dominance by Chironomidae sp. at the center of the Nakdong River weir and the most unstable community in Chilgok and Gangjeong Goryeong weirs. The results of the community stability analysis showed a high distribution of the characteristic group I with high resilience and resistance and small distribution of characteristic group III with low resistance and resilience, indicating a very unstable condition of communities in the Nakdong River weir section. Predators were relatively abundant among the functional feeding groups (FFGs), whereas shredders, gathering-collectors, and filtering-collectors were relatively lower. Among the habitat orientation groups (HOGs), burrowers and climbers were dominant, indicating a wide distribution of groups in ecosystems with low dissolved oxygen. An endangered species level II of Macromia daimoji was found in Sangju and Nakdan weirs. The analysis results for 10 years from 2010 showed that the number of species and populations increased immediately after the dam construction but plummeted in 2016 and are now stabilizing. Chironomidae spp. has been dominant in all sections over the past 10 years, and they are currently maintained at a rate of about 50%. The EPT groups have decreased significantly since 2011, and the Plecoptera and Trichoptera of the group have not yet been restored. The population of Tubificidae spp. showed an increase after construction was completed in 2012 and drastically increased in 2015 and 2020. The species of Cristaria plicata, designated as endangered species level I, has not been observed since 2011 in Hapcheon Changnyeong weir. Moreover, Macromia daimoji was rarely observed in seven weirs until 2015, and it has been confirmed that the current distribution habitat has decreased rapidly.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.55-62
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• 2020

Chironomidae widely utilize as a biological indicator that has various types of feeding pattern such as omnivorous, herbivorous and carnivorous. Polypedilum scalaenum is known as omnivorous, it plays an important role in the food chain of freshwater ecosystems in Korea. Nevertheless, detailed information about diet items of P. scalaenum is still lacking. The purpose of this study is to identify the gut and intestine contents of items on P. scalaenum inhabiting the large-scale weirs of the four major river ecosystems(Ipoh Weir, Sejong Weir, Juksan Weir, Gangjeong-Goryeong Weir, and Dalseong Weir). Phytoplankton was dominant diet items among the study sites. However, zooplankton (i.e. appendages, setae) only found in Ipoh Weir. The phytoplankton species composition in the study sites was correspond to the diet items in the gut and intestine contents of P. scalaenum. In summary, analysis of P. scalaenum gut and intestine contents in this study was able to identify the feeding characteristics of omnivorous Chironomidae, and in particular, it was possible to study the species composition of basic producers in the surrounding aquatic environment by analyzing the contents of the digestive tracts.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.60 no.2
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• pp.45-53
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• 2018

Demand for essential resources including water, energy and food is rapidly increasing due to climate change, population growth and urbanization. To solve this problem, the concept of water-energy-food nexus has been introduced, and many countries have been trying to acquire the Nexus technology that can maximize the efficiency by analyzing the interconnection between resources. In this regard, this study attempted to estimate the probable maximum water thermal energy in the dam based on the water-energy nexus concept. The estimation of the probable maximum water thermal energy was implemented to monthly water storage of the largest dams in the four major river systems. As a result of analyzing the estimated monthly water thermal energy from 2000 to 2016, Soyang River dam has the largest probable maximum water thermal energy, and Sumjin River dam has the smallest. However, the probable maximum water thermal energy was small in common between March and April, between September and October due to the small temperature difference between the ambient air and the dam water. Also, according to the characteristics of the dam, Daecheong dam and Soyang River dam were beneficial for supplying water thermal energy for heating, and Sumjin River dam and Andong dam were advantageous for supplying water thermal energy for cooling. Our findings can be useful to realize the water-energy-food nexus by increasing the utilization and value of water resources as well as expanding the roles and functions of dams as a starting point to use dam water thermal energy.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.349-356
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• 2016

Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) System has been used to improve water quality in the Youngsan·Tamjin river basin since 2004. The Basic Policy of TMDLs sets up the standard flow based on the average dry condition or mid-range flow during the last 10 years. However, Target Water Quality (TWQ) assessment on TMDLs has been used to evaluate water quality through eight-day intervals over 36 times a year. The results for allocation evaluation and target water quality evaluation were different from each other in the same unit watershed during the first period. In order to improve the evaluation method, researchers applied Load Duration Curve (LDC) to evaluate water quality in nine unit watersheds of the Youngsan·Tamjin river basin. The results showed that achievement rates of TWQ assessment with the current method and LDC were 67~100% and 78~100%, respectively. Approximately 11% of the achievement rates with use of LDC were higher than those with use of the current method. In conclusion, it is necessary to review the application of the LDC method in all Four Major River Watersheds.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.47-54
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• 2010

Although the demands for the dredging work have been increasing due to social and industrial reasons including national plan for restoration of four major rivers, environmental standards or management guidelines for the dredged river sediment are limited. The suggested environmental standard for the beneficial use of dredged river sediment consists of two levels, recyclable and concern, and includes eight contaminants such as metals and organic contaminants. The systematic approach to remediate dredged river sediment is also suggested. The system consists of both washing and stabilization processes with continuous multi particle separation. In the early stage, the sediments are separated into two particle sizes. The coarse-grained sediment over 0.075 mm, generally decontaminated with less trouble, follows normal washing steps and is sent for recycling. The fine-grained sediments under 0.075 mm are separated again at 0.025 mm. The particles bigger than this second separation point are treated in two ways, advanced washing for highly contaminated sediments and stabilization for less. The lab test results show that birnessite and apatite are most effective stabilizing agents among tested for Cd and Pb. The most fine residues, down-sized by continuous particle separation, are finally sent for disposal. The system is tested for metals in this study, but is expected to be effective for organic contaminants included in the environmental standard, such as PAH and PCE. The feasibility test on the field site will be followed.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.732-738
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• 2015

Water quality in four major river basin in Korea was managed with Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) System. The unit watershed in TMDL system has been evaluated with Target Water Quality (TWQ) assessment using average water quality, without considering its volume of water quantity. As results, although unit watershed are obtained its TWQ, its allocated loads were not satisfied and vice versa. To solve these problems, a number of TWQ assessments with using Load Duration Curve (LDC) have been studied at other watersheds. The purpose of this study was to evaluate achievement of TWQ with Flow Duration Curve (FDC) and Load Duration Curve(LDC) at 26 unit watersheds in Han river basin. The results showed that achievement rates in TWQ assessment with current method and with LDC were 50~56 % and 69~73%, respectively. Because of increasing about 20% of achievement rates with using LDC, the number of exceeded unit watershed at Han river Basin was decreased about 4~6 unit watersheds.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.197-204
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• 2017

This study was carried out to apply the UAV(Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) coupled with Multispectral sensor for the algae bloom monitoring in river. The study acquired remote sensing data using UAV on the midstream area of Gum River, one of four major rivers in South Korea. Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) is used for monitoring algae change. This study conducted water sampling and analysis in the field for correlating with NDVI values. Among the samples analyzed, the chlorophyll concentration exhibited strong and significant linear relationships with NDVI, and thus NDVI was chosen for algae bloom index to identify emergence aspect of phytoplankton in river. Aerial remote sensing technology can provide more accurate, flexible, cheaper, and faster monitoring methods of detecting and predicting eutrophication and therefore cyanobacteria bloom in water reservoirs compared to currently used technology. As a result, there was high level of correlation in chlorophyll-a and NDVI. It is expected that when this remote water quality and pollution monitoring technology is applied in the field, it would be able to improve capabilities to deal with the river water quality and pollution at the early stage.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.127-135
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• 2022

Excessive presence of As level in groundwater is a major health problem worldwide. In the Red River Delta in Vietnam, several million residents possess a high risk of chronic As poisoning. The As releases into groundwater caused by natural process through microbially-driven reductive dissolution of Fe (III) oxides. It has been extracted by Red River residents using private tube wells for drinking and daily purposes because of their unawareness of the contamination. This long-term consumption of As-contaminated groundwater could lead to various health problems. Therefore, a predictive model would be useful to expose contamination risks of the wells in the Red River Delta Vietnam area. This study used four machine learning algorithms to predict the As probability of study sites in Red River Delta, Vietnam. The GBM was the best performing model with the accuracy, precision, sensitivity, and specificity of 98.7%, 100%, 95.2%, and 100%, respectively. In addition, it resulted the highest AUC of 92% and 96% for the PRC and ROC curves, with Eh and Fe as the most important variables. The partial dependence plot of As concentration on the model parameters showed that the probability of high level of As is related to the low number of wells' depth, Eh, and SO₄, along with high PO₄^3- and NH₄⁺. This condition triggers the reductive dissolution of iron phases, thus releasing As into groundwater.