Seawater got into groundwater supplies last summer and damaged crops in western Jeju, and authorities are trying to figure out how it happened. Joseph Kim reports.
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Gosan-ri, Hangyeong-myeon (August 2018)

Nursery beds of cabbage are overturned and cabbage seedlings have turned dry and yellow.

Most of the seedlings were damaged by the underground water that comes from the nearby tube well.

INTERVIEW
Jeon Sang-won / Cabbage farmer
I think that seawater gets into the groundwater at high tide when the level of underground water is low.
< 인터뷰: 진상원 / 양배추 농가 >
지하수 수심이 내려가니까 바닷물 만조될 때 짠물이 지대 낮은 곳으로 들어오는 것 같아요.

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Salinity 80X higher than normal in affected areas

The Korea Rural Community Corporation measures the salinity of the underground water at the damaged areas. The salinity is 80 times higher than fresh water.

The penetration of sea water into the underground spring water in the western Jeju region has caused damage to more than 10 farms.

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Damage expected again this year

There has been no significant harm observed.

But damages are expected to be felt in the cabbage field from mid-July when cabbage farming season begins and tube wells start to run.

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‘Low rainfall, more use of groundwater are the problems’

Experts assume that drought and increased use of underground water are the root causes of the seawater contamination.

The province commissioned the Korea Rural Community Corporation and the Jeju Research Institute to study the impact of the brackish water penetration caused by drought, increased use of underground spring water and the development of naturally filtered seawater through the island’s bedrocks.

Researchers will conclude their study by 2020.

INTERVIEW
Kim Tae-gyeong / Dir., Provincial office of environmental assets
Researchers will determine why the seawater is seeping into underground springwater, how to stop it, and what we in government can do to prevent it.
< 인터뷰: 김태경 / 제주도 환경자산물관리과장 >
왜 해수 침투가 되고 있는지, 방안은 어떤 것들이 있는지, 앞으로 행정에서 취할 조치는 어떤 것인지 대책을 마련해 나갈 예정입니다.

[Reporter] Joseph Kim
[Camera] Ko Moon-su

Meanwhile, the amount of underground water permitted to be drawn out already exceeds 200 percent of the capacity in (대정읍) Daejeong-eup and (한경면) Hangyeong-myeon.

Authorities need to review the allowed amount of underground water.

Joseph Kim, KCTV