도서지역의 친환경적 용수공급계획 수립방안

Abstract

An island is defined as land surrounded by water. Most islands in Korea are categorized as "very small islands," namely islands with areas smaller than 10㎢ by the standard of a UNESCO report. As can be imagined, both "small islands" and "very small islands" have significant difficulty obtaining water resources due to their inherent geographical features. They are also vulnerable to natural disasters, necessitation emergency water importation during periods of even the slightest drought or hurricane. In recent years, the Korean government has attempted to address such issues through a variety of measures. However, only a small minority of residents are served by the disparate municipal water supply systems, the ensuing water shortage eliciting complaints from residents. With such a context in mind, this study aims to: (1) investigate current water supply and its limitations in small islands; (2) suggest the improvement methods to enhance and stabilize their water supply, and; (3) present solutions for problems commonly found on islands, selecting and examining certain islands as case studies. On small islands, surface water, groundwater (fresh and brackish), and rainwater are utilized as water resources. The greatest number of islands depend on groundwater, while the largest amount of water is provided by surface water. Desalination systems using brackish groundwater are employed in an ongoing project by the Ministry of Environment called "Drinking Water Development Project for Rural Area and Islands." Most water supply depends on a single water resource. Each water resource has its specific limitations, such as water level decline and increase in salinity for groundwater, water quality deterioration by eutrophication in surface water, and malfunction by unprofessional management with the desalination system. In water resource selection, the characteristics of all resources should be compared to one another so as to choose one most appropriate one of an individual island. In particular, the factors worth examination are current water supply, cost of installation and management, advantages and disadvantages, technical applicability, and environmental impact. Moreover, properties of an individual island--such as its meteorology, geography, geology, available water resource, current and future water demands, residents opinion, and development plan--should be thoroughly investigated. In attempting to comprehend fully the properties of a given island, the Korean Statistical Yearbooks may prove to be inadequate, as the facts contained are delineated according to the administrative units containing a pocket of several small islands. On the other hand, because the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) manages and distributes data, information, and reports of islands via each island's website (http://islands.unep.ch/), the UNEP undertakes comprehensive and detailed studies of individual islands and share them with experts, public servants, residents and stakeholders. Such methods for collecting data on individual islands should be carried forth by Korea as well. Nowadays, numerous tourist development projects are being planned and underway in the southwestern costal area of Korea. While they might revive the economy of the islands concerned, they will also increase the islands' water demands and aggravate the pre-existing water shortage. As such, the designs for the aforementioned development projects need to include fundamentally sound water supply plans, regulated closely by law and verified by Strategic Environmental Assessment. This study suggests a systematic process and detailed guidelines of water supply plans, consisting of estimating water demands, identifying water resources, and considering their technical applicability as well as their sustainability. In support of such assertion, case studies employing multiple water resources and sustainable water supply have been executed.