• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.32 no.5B
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• pp.273-285
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• 2012

Current TMDL based on the 'Polluter Pays Principle' in Republic of Korea is individually operated by each local government for the designed allocated pollution load of unit watershed and unit district. However, unlike the motion of the air contaminants, the polluted contaminants in a river move from upstream to downstream, and a river can affect to districts more than two. In addition, a decision making on the construction of a sewage treatment facilities follows the concept of 'economy of scale'. These reasons support the collaboration among local governments in order to reduce the costs in improving water quality. This study suggested a method to reduce water quality management cost by redistributing reduction load considering cost-effectiveness for an entire watershed. The assessment on the suggested method is conducted in Youngsan river watershed. Without variation in total load, reduction load assigned for unit watershed and unit district is retributed in the region where pollutant source is concentrated, and then water quality and cost reduction improved from the redistribution of reduction load is analyzed. The results show that the cost saved by the suggested method is KRW 124 billion for scenario-1 and 172 billion for scenario-2 considering total cost of KRW 788 billion for the existing plan. We expect that the suggested method is a good example to reduce water quality management cost in local governments for TMDL.