• Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.39-47
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• 2020

While agricultural water has been declared free in Korea to ensure access to these limited resource since the year 2000, farmers have however developed lackadaisical behavior towards water saving leading to its scarcity. To overcome this problem, a variety of experience-oriented education model was developed for farmers to promote the adoption of water conservation, and preventive measure against the drought impacts. In this study, farmers' awareness and their attitudinal behavior of agricultural water savings were investigated. The monitoring of water supply structure and the repair facilities in Pohang and Yeongdeok areas were conducted. The field visits and behavioral surveys showed a high degree of over-use and illegal water withdrawals by the farmers due to poor water-saving and management practices. We found that most of the KRC employees strongly admitted the necessity of water-saving education. On the other hand, the farmers showed good interest in the implementation of water-saving awareness through education. Besides this, most farmers agreed to adopt water-saving practices in the fields. Farmers also acknowledged the recklessness of water use was due to the aging of waterways, poor water management, and illegal water consumption. The majority of the farmers responded against imposing the water-use tariffs. However, there was a low response to paying the water-use charge. Aging agricultural facilities and the lack of institutional penalties or incentives were the major obstacles in achieving efficient water-saving. Considering the current drought frequency, urgent water-saving education of farmers was deemed necessary to prepare the farming community against the water shortages. Based on the results of this study, we have to identify the irrigation practices of farmers and provide water-saving education to enforce more efficient use and management of agricultural water.

• Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.11-20
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• 2021

Recently, natural disasters caused by climate change have become more frequent across the world. Our country is also not exceptional, and it is urgent to come up with appropriate measures in the agricultural sector as the size and intensity of drought are becoming severe. Consequently, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food has continuously raised the need for efficient water management and governance to overcome the periodic drought. Thus, there is a need for water-saving education and water conservation governance for sustainable and efficient use of agricultural water. Governance is a cooperative mechanism involving various stakeholders, such as central, local, civil society, and businesses, to solve regional or social problems, with different definitions and concepts depending on the field or scope. In this study, we aim to present basis of a governance framework for direct water management participation involving the key agricultural water use stakeholders to imbibe the culture of water savings and conservation practices. Based on this, water-saving governance was established and operated in Gyeongju and Yeoju, in South Korea as a 'water conservation practice', while the water management status of local farmers, the reliability and importance of stakeholders, and the need for governance were investigated. The results indicate that the involvement of various stakeholders in the governance of water management yielded water-saving effects. This study provides the directions of making a framework for water-saving governance establishment and operation. It is expected that sustainable agricultural water use can be achieved in response to climate change if the governance builds and operates with agricultural water use stakeholders based on the continuous government supports.

• Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.71-79
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• 2022

Recently, alarming rates of climate change have amplified the importance of water conservation in the agricultural sector; emphasizing the implementation of an integrated approach as the principal water management strategy. As part of comprehensive measures to cope with drought in the agricultural and rural sectors, water-saving education models and pilot projects for farmers' education have been implemented since 2016, but these activities were launched as a one-time project in limited areas. Therefore, systematic and extensive efforts are required to highlight the site-specific and tangible benefits of water-saving education and public relations projects. As part of this study, educational sessions and surveys were conducted in the Yeoju-Icheon, Seosan-Taean, and Gyeongju areas to reflect the on-site applicability of the water-saving education model. Based on the survey of previous studies, a total of 16 water-saving effectiveness factors were developed and the effectiveness was derived for each factor. As a result of farmer education, the overall effectiveness evaluation score of 1.13 increased to 3.34, and the effectiveness of each factor was also improved. These water-saving education effectiveness factors can be used as basic data for determining and launching future policies or systems to improve the water-saving education of farmers. In addition, this study raises the need to prepare feasible related systems that can lead farmers to actively participate in water management and conservation and to promote systematic and continuous water conservation education and promotion policies.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2016.05a
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• pp.194-194
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• 2016

Gansu, located in the northwestern region, is a typical agricultural province of arid, semiarid in China. The shortage of water resources is the biggest obstacle of Gansu Province's development, and the dry farming water-saving is the eternal theme of Gansu agricultural sustainable development. In recent years, intensify reform in Gansu, has walked out a successful way in the agricultural water-saving. Using the integrated river basin governance as opportunity, the total water-using quantity was regarded as rigidity to retrain, distributed to counties (districts), irrigated areas, towns, associations, groups step by step. Agricultural water price was substantially increased, with the surface water price from about $0.1RMB/m^3$ to more than $0.2 RMB/m^3$, and the ground water from zero to more than $0.1RMB/m^3$. Simultaneously, the difference water prices and over-quota water progression price markup were carried out. The transaction of water rights was encouraged to impel the peasant to establish the consciousness of saving-water. The regulatory documents were formulated to standardize the scope, condition, mode, program etc. of agriculture water-rights transaction, to guarantees the transaction of water rights is carries out in order. The pattern of farming was optimized and adjusted, reducing the high water-consumption crop, increasing economic crops with high benefit and low water-consumption, developing industrialized agricultures such as green house. The relative engineering and measuring facility were comprehensively improved, with the anti-seepage of canal system and the enforcement of dynamo-electric well, developing high-efficient water-saving irrigation and overall metering facilities. The water fine-grained management has realized, and obvious water-saving effect has obtained: water-using rate in the irrigation area by river water has brought up to 0.57 from 0.52, and by well water up to 0.84 from 0.76. Although the water price has increased, the proportion that the water rate expenditure accounted for the cost lasts decline, and the farmers' income has gone up. The peasants express, the used water is few, and it is few to till land, but the income is many, and life is better.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.58 no.5
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• pp.19-28
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• 2016

This study was to design the optimal locations of the water level monitoring to quantify the agricultural water use in irrigation area supplied from an agricultural reservoir. In most of agricultural areas without TM/TC (Tele-Monitoring and Tele-Control) or monitoring network, irrigation water have been supplied on conventional experience and agricultural reservoir have been operated based on the operating simulation results by HOMWRS (Hydrological Operation Model for Water Resources System). Therefore, this study quantified the amount of agricultural water use in an irrigation area (Musu Reservoir, Jincheon-gun) by establishing water level monitoring network and analyzed the agricultural water saving effect. According to the evaluation of the economic values for water saving effect, the saving agricultural water of 1.7 million ton was analyzed to have economic values of 0.85 million won as water for living, and 1.78 million won as water for industrial use. It is identified to secure economic feasibility of the new water monitoring network by establishing one monitoring point in the entrance, irrigation area and endpoint through the economic analysis.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.60 no.2
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• pp.121-132
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• 2018

Along with climate change, it is reported that the extreme climate events such as severe drought could cause difficulties of agricultural water supply. To minimize such damages, it is necessary to secure the agricultural water resources by using or saving the amount of irrigation water efficiently. The objectives of this study were to develop paddy water management scenarios and to evaluate their effectiveness on water saving. Three water management scenarios (a) deep irrigation with ponding depth of 20~80 mm (control, CT), (b) no/intermittent irrigation until paddy cracks (water management A, WM-A), and (c) intermittent irrigation with ponding depth under 20 mm (water management B, WM-B) were developed. Water saving effects were analyzed using monitored data from experimental paddy fields, and agricultural water supply was analyzed on a reservoir-scale using MASA model. The observed irrigation amounts were reduced by 21 % and 17 % for WM-A and WM-B compared to CT, respectively, and mainly occurred by the increase of effective rainfall. The simulation results showed that water management scenarios could reduce irrigation by 21~51 % and total inflow by 10~24 % compared to CT. The long-term simulated water level change of agricultural reservoir resulted in the decrease of dead level occurrence for WM-A and WM-B. The study results showed that WT-A and WT-B have more benefit than CT in the aspect of agricultural reservoir water supply.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.1-6
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• 2009

This study analyzed and evaluated the effect of agricultural water reduction by introducing automated agricultural water management using alternative cost approach. The approach is possible to evaluate none market property as an asset. The saved agricultural water was evaluated as none market property. As the alternative goods, Seongju and Donghwa dam, typical irrigation dams in domestic, were employed. The economic benefit from water saving effect of an automated agricultural water management was calculated as depreciation expense and maintaining cost of construction agricultural dam per saved agriculture water. As a result, the saved agriculture water was 8.5 million ton per year, and the economic benefit of it was $1.3{\sim}2.1$ million won.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.373-376
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• 2002

It is reported that Korea is a county of water shortage. The government make plans to construct dam to cope with this problem. But, it become difficult to construct dam, because of public opinion of residents and objection of environmentalist. In the sense, the government set up new policy of demand-management which means water saving. It is known that the efficiency of agricultural water is so poor that the first target to save water is focussed on agricultural water. In the study, the function of agricultural water was evaluated and it is found that it is not a waste, but a good ability on eco-system by return flow.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.3-11
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• 2004

The objective of this study is to develop water saving irrigation method using water balance model in order to save rural water. Daily water balance components such as irrigation water, drainage water, effective rainfall, ET, and infiltration were measured in paddy fields. Model simulations were performed for different outlet heights and ponding depths. The outlet heights and the ponding depths are 2 cm, 4 cm, 6 cm, 8 cm, and 10 cm, respectively. Based on the simulation very shallow ponding depth of 2 cm with 10 cm outlet height showed the largest effective rainfall ratio and the smallest irrigation amount. Until the introduction of laser leveling dozer and automatic inlet control devices, it would be desirable to adopt 4cm ponding depth because of difficulty of land leveling and frequency of farmer's field visit. The results of this study will be applied in the paddy farming and can improve water use efficiency.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers Conference
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• 2000.10a
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• pp.108-113
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• 2000

A field study was performed to investigate the effect of water saving irrigation method on water use efficiency and rice yield. The field plot was 40a (40 ${\times}$ 100m) in size and located at Buryangmyun, Kimjae city, Chonbuk province. Field measurements were made during the growing seasons, May to September of the year 1998 and 1990. Irrigation water volume, drainage water volume, rainfall and ponding depth were measured. Irrigation water management practice employed was such that to keep the ponding depth about 3 to 4cm by intermittent irrigation with drying the soil surface until hair cracks emerge before the next irrigation. The amounts of water volume irrigated and drained were measured by pipe flow meter and ponding depth was observed by using a partly buried 120mm diameter PVC pipe. The results showed that the irrigation water depths, the rainfalls, and the drainage depths were 379mm, 458mm, and 448mm in 1988, and 274mm, 819mm, and 736mm in 1990, respectively. The average yield was 590kg per 10a. The water saving irrigation method saved irrigation water by about 20% with higher yield compared with the traditional method.