To efficiently coordinate the operation of the Han River Watershed Management Fund for 2003, the Minister of Environment held a meeting on Jan. 27, 2003 with the other members of the Han River Watershed Management Committee, which includes the Mayor of the Seoul Metropolitan City, Mayor of Incheon Metropolitan City, and president of the Korea Water Resources Corporation, etc.

Since its establishment in 1999, the Watershed Management Funds have been used for many projects such as the establishment, operation and maintenance of environmental infrastructures. More specifically, 199.4 billion won were used for the establishment of environmental structures and 99.2 billion won for the operation and maintenance. Also, almost 70 billion won were invested annually for the community support projects.

During the meeting, ways to strengthen the cooperation channels among the cities and provinces were discussed for implementing effective measures aimed at making the Han River water quality into Grade 1 by 2005. The outcomes of the comprehensive measures for the Han River Water Source Management in the previous years were also reviewed for the effective and successful planning of the new initiative.

In 2003, the Committee plans to invest a total of 263.4 billion won of Watershed Management Funds for the water quality improvement projects as well as community support projects for the upper stream regions of Paldang reservoir, which is under many restrictions.