Lake Sihwa had its salt-water access blocked off with a dike in the 1990's under a plan to create a large area with farmable land and a fresh-water lake, but then it turned into the "Lake of Death" because of poor water quality. It was a case that proved the frightful results of reckless development. Only after they opened up part of the dike and allowed the salt-water back in did water quality improve. By making the water level within the embankment 1 meter lower than the seawater on the other side the mudflats within the lake came to be exposed, and since 2001 the government and the Korea Water Resources Corporation have been working on development plans on those areas. Environmental groups and local residents have been strongly opposed to the plan, saying it would be like "killing Lake Sihwa twice over."
It was at the beginning of last year that the Construction and Transportation Ministry, the governments of Ansan, Hwaseong, and Siheung, the Korea Water Resources Corporation, civic groups, and experts got together to discuss the matter in the "Council on Sustainable Development in the Sihwa Area." They talked with each other for a full year, and agreed on a plan to develop the mudflats towards the south of the lake into an "environmentally-friendly eco/culture tourism and leisure zone." They succeeded in establishing a precedent for "establishing democratic development plans" with the participation of experts and local residents. The accomplishment is all the more precious because the agreement was arrived at after a lesson that came at the cost of misled development and the massive conflict that followed.
The agreement includes a precondition for development of the area, namely that there first be measures enacted to improve air and water quality. In addition, the new seashore and ecosystem that have appeared within the lake will be preserved, the burden on water quality will be kept to a minimum, and there will be a scheme established that will assure thoroughly environmentally-friendly development. Civic groups will be guaranteed the right to monitor the development process.
However, no everything has been resolved. Making sure development is environmentally-friendly will require the active participation of the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, the Environment Ministry, and the Cultural Heritage Administration, and not just the Construction and Transportation Ministry. Issues relating to the fishing rights of local fishermen and compensation for local residents must also be resolved. Most important will be making sure the agreement is implemented with certainty, and it might be worth having the local community, the construction ministry, and other entities directly involved sign a formal pact together to make sure that is what happens.
The Hankyoreh, 5 January 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] Local Agreement on Lake Sihwa Development |
