Worst Winter Drought Distresses South
The current winter drought is causing serious conditions. This winter, the Busan region faces the worst drought in approximately forty years starting from December 1 last year and extending to January 31 this year.
According to the Busan Regional Meteorological Office on January 31, Busan recorded 12.1 millimeters of rainfall during the above period. The annual average is 62.1 millimeters in winter, starting from December to January in the region. This year the area received less than one fifth compared to usual seasons. It is the first winter drought in 43 years.
Looking at records from several recent years, Busan had 27.4 millimeters of rain in winter from 2005 to 2006, 41.8 from 2004 to 2005, 15.8 from 2003 to 2004, 102.8 from 2002 to 2003 and 113.5 millimeters from 2001 to 2002.
This current condition applies to not only to Busan, but also most of the Kyung-nam region. In Jinju, last winter had 28.6 millimeters of precipitation and it fell to 14.3 this year. Hap-chon received 20.1 millimeters last year and exactly half this year at 10.1.
As the result, recent worries are the volume of drinking water and water quality. According to the Korean Water Resources Corporation, the water volume contained in Hap-chon, Imha, and Nam-kang dams on the Nak-dong River show great losses of water. This directly effects water service in the Busan region.
In Hap-chon dam, the current volume is 39.12 percent, compared to a usual 42.05 percent on January 30. The Nam-kang dam holds 21.56 percent compared to 25.06 percent usually. Inha dam has a more serious situation with a current volume of 27.03 percent, whereas it is usually 37.80 percent.
With less rainfall and snowfall, the quality of water has become worse. According to the Busan city water supply headquarters, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) of water for water service in Busan was 3.8ppm at the end of December last year. This is worse than the previous year's BOD of 3.2ppm at the same time.
The bigger problem is this winter drought condition may continue for some time. Different from the Kang-won and Young-dong areas that recently had heavy snowfall easing a long winter drought, Busan and the Kyung-nam region are forecast to hear no news on snow and rain.
This continuous drought in the region is caused by a low pressure trough over the southern part of Korea. It holds moisture poorly and developed due to being pushed away against the continental high atmospheric pressure. As a result precipitation circumstances are rare to appear.
Referring to the current situation, persons at the Busan regional meteorological office insist, “For some time, Busan and the Kyung-nam region have less rainfall compared to any other year. Securing drinking and farming water is necessary and people have to take care of their health condition due to the continuous warning of dryness."
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 / 입력시간: 2007. 02.01. 08:01
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