Name of Activity

Overview

1. Basin Management    Committee

The basin management committee is a decentralized, joint decision-making body formed to effectively manage many watersheds, and is responsible for controlling a number of local governments. As an agency for review & coordination, the committee in the four major rivers' watersheds fulfills duties regarding discussions and coordination on major watershed management policies and programs, as well as the management of the 'Basin Management Funds'.
The Committee thus plays a role as the nation's National Assembly for watersheds. The MOE serves as the chair of the committee, and the committee members are consisted of related city mayors, the heads of provinces and the president of the Korea Water Resources Association of each basin.
In order to determine the government's major watershed policies, the city mayor and the head of province first gather opinions of their residents and NGOs in order to present their alternatives during their discussions with the committee. If the agenda discussed at the committee has a nation-wide impact, (i.e., details requiring revision of related laws, enforcement ordinance, regulations, etc.), the issue is presented in the National Assembly by MOE. Each committee should discuss and coordinate the following issues:

• A comprehensive pollution reduction plan for the improvement of water quality of each basin
• Assessment and collection of the 'Water Use Charge'
• Operation and management of the 'Basin Management Funds'
• 'Low Level Water Maintenance' (except the Han River basin)
• Details on the land purchase by the Presidential Order;   support programs for residents, and support for civilian  water quality monitoring activities.

2. Watershed Management Executing Organizations

The Korean government re-organized its environment related bodies to attain greater efficiency in carrying out the watershed management system.
In the past, the government assigned the central government's duties regarding training and monitoring for the industrial complexes to the local self-government bodies. Furthermore, a Watershed System Division (Aug. 17, 2002) within the Ministry of Environment was established, mandating all relevant works in carrying out the watershed management policy, and formed the watershed management bureaus within the Regional Environmental Offices responsible for the four major rivers and the Regional Environmental Offices was expanded into the Watershed Environmental Offices for four major rivers (Aug. 1999, Feb. 2002). Also a total water quality pollution load team (Aug. 2002) was formed within the National Environmental Research Institute (NIER), and the title 'water quality inspection office for four major rivers' within NIER was changed to the 'water quality institute for four major rivers' (Aug. 2002).
The watershed system division under the Ministry of Environment is responsible for overall matters regarding the working out of a comprehensive watershed management plan, the policy making regarding watershed management, as well as the watershed management system.
Within the Environmental Office for four major rivers, watershed management bureaus are responsible for a watershed planning team, a financial planning team, a source water management team, and a regional co-operation team. These teams are in charge of fulfilling duties of administrative affairs for the basin management committee, in addition to the operation of the watershed management system. National Institute of Environmental Research founded a 'water quality total pollution load management team' as a research body, and this team is responsible for the technical part, such as water quality modeling, a basis of watershed management.
It also formed a 'total pollution load management, investigation and research team' consisting of related specialists for seamless operation of the watershed management system. The 'water quality research institute' for each watershed is responsible for supporting the affairs regarding the management and operation of the watershed. This is achieved through undertaking the basic environmental survey, information gathering, investigation and research for each watershed. In addition, Korea Environmental Policy Institute directly communicates with the Office of Prime Minister, undertaking researches regarding the government's water resources policy.

3. Support System for Civilian Water Quality Monitoring Activities

In order to enhance participation of the residents and NGOs in resolving the watershed problem, the government provides financial support for the water quality conservation activities at the civilian level (i.e., training and advertising activities). This financial support is conducted via the 'Basin Management Funds'.
The annual funding amounts reached about 2 billion won. A typical example of the support was the nationwide event-'The Day of River Water Quality Competition in Korea'-operated by a NGO. In this annual event, a variety of participants including NGOs, local municipalities, and commercial companies discuss on different issues of water quality maintenance. Such an event is recognized for its exemplary undertaking in promoting water quality maintenance activities at the grass-root level.

4. Green City Designation

Since its inauguration, the Participatory Government has supported the implementation of decentralization policies. However, institutional instruments to allow environmentally sound local administration has been lacking. Therefore, the MOE has adopted Green City designation system to foster local governments into becoming the center of local administration through the enhancement of their local environmental management capacity, thereby realizing environmentally sound and sustainable development on the local level.
The concept of this system is that by making local governments with excellent environmental bases and policies to enter in a contest and designating them as Green Cities, it will raise the interest and participation of local government chiefs and residents and elicit constructive competition between local governments for the development of local administration.

5. Environmental Education in School Curricula

MOE tries to encourage more middle and high schools to choose environment-related subjects aimed at widening environmental education opportunities for the youth. We are also improving education-al conditions including teaching materials and tools designed to enhance the quality of environ-mental education.
To assist teachers in environ-mental education, MOE has been publishing various reports, includ-ing the Performance and Evaluation Criteria for Environmental Subjects in Secondary Schools. We also plan to continue cooperating with relevant agencies and foster a popular support base for the adoption of environmental subjects in academic curriculum.
Since 1985, we have been con-ducting a project aimed at designating and operating a total of 141 pilot environmental elementary, middle and high schools every two years. These efforts seek to help students gain right views about the environment and regularly practice environmental conservation, as well as develop and disseminate model cases to schools.

6. Enhancing the Front-line Experiential Environmental Education Programs

MOE offers a learn-by-experience forum for the youth to understand and increase their awareness on the environment in daily life. We also provide state subsidies to the local goverments and educational agencies at municipal and provincial levels respectively, as means to support the outstanding learn-by-experience programs approved by the government.

7. Activating Publicity Groups for Environ-mental Education

MOE expanded the Environ-mental Education and Publicity Group consisting of seniors, activists, leaders and experts in environment by increasing its members from 220 to 320. This growth aimed to encourage adults who had few opportunities to get the systematic education on the environment to practice an environment-minded life and increase their awareness on the environment.
MOE also undertakes publicity activities through the MOE website (www.me.go.kr) and shares information on environmental education by holding workshops on Environ-mental Education and Publicity Mission (Nov-Dec 2002).
For greater effectiveness, MOE carries out environmental education campaigns in partnership with local groups in a given region.

8. Operating Vehicles for Environmental Education

MOE will design a special bus containing environmental experiment equipments as well as other environmental education tools and materials, including outstanding books and environment-related publications. This bus will be used to offer visual and audio education on environmental preservation to kindergarten children, primary and secondary school students, farmers and fishers as well as housewives and soldiers.
The bus will also serve as a computer information center, mo-bile environmental library, and laboratory for environmental experiments like measuring water pollution level using biological indicators. This specially design-ed bus administers both mobile environmental education and on-site ecological lessons.