The effectiveness of means used for water demand control,

Abstract

The amount of water used for municipal, agricultural and industrial purpose has been about 36.6% of total runoff in Korea. The long-term water resources plan by MOCT (Ministry of Construction and Transport) predicted approximately 340 million tons of water shortage in 2011. Based on the prediction, construction of new dam is necessary. The MOE (Ministry of Environment) has established the “Water Demand Control Plan” in the year 2000 to save 790 million tons of water to avoid construction of new dams. In 2003, the MOE evaluated the effectiveness of the Control Plan and declared the Plan was successful in saving about 450 million tons of water per year by several implementation means. The declared achievement has been inspected using the water statistics between 1999 and 2004. The analysis has revealed that the conservation has not been such successful as declared. Actual difference in water production between in 1999 and in 2004 was only around 116 million tons instead of 450 million tons that the MOE announced. Raising water rate and substituting existing faucets for water saving devices might not have any considerable effect in conserving water consumption. Probably the MOE might have saved water through the Control Plan anyway. However, whether the budget has been allocated properly and used efficiently should be attested. If the MOE really want to control water demand, it needs to analyze the effectiveness of implementation means.