Dead River to Eco-Friendly River – The revival of Taehwa River, Ulsan Metropolitan City, Republic of Korea

Project Overview

The type of this demonstration site is ‘Basin’, encompassing 57 inflows into the river and the river itself, covering an area of approximately 644 km2. The Taehwa River traverses Ulsan Metropolitan City horizontally, with some portions extending into Gyeongju City. Ulsan Metropolitan City has a total population of 1.1 million people (as of January 2023).

Conserve Process YES

Enhance Process NO

Apply Complementary NO

Ecosystem Services

Provisioning

Provisioning Services are ecosystem services that describe the material or energy outputs from ecosystems. They include food, water and other resources.

Regulating

Regulating Services are the services that ecosystems provide by acting as regulators eg. regulating the quality of air and soil or by providing flood and disease control.

Habitat / Supporting

Ecosystem services "that are necessary for the production of all other ecosystem services". These include services such as nutrient recycling, primary production and soil formation.

Cultural

Cultural Services corresponds nonmaterial benefits people obtain from ecosystems through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, reflection, recreation, and aesthetic experiences.

Major Issues

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No issues provided.

EH Engineering Solutions

The Korea National Fishway Information System website

The Korea National Fishway Information System website provides comprehensive data on weir characteristics, location, and conditions in the Taehwa River. The mainstream and tributaries of the Taehwa River have 12 flow measuring points, 20 water quality measuring points, and 36 biological measuring points, and more than 30+ parameters such as BOD, TP, TN, and Chlorophy of water quality monitoring data were collected last 20 years.

Ulsan City is actively working to protect

Ulsan City is actively working to protect the native plants of the Taehwa River by eradicating harmful foreign plants and creating habitats for silver grass that naturally grows around the sewage treatment plant. This not only promotes the preservation of local flora but also provides a sanctuary for citizens to enjoy the beauty of nature.

The Taehwa River is home to over

The Taehwa River is home to over 700 species of flora and fauna, including 127 bird species and 64 fish species. Every year, salmon and other fish species return to the river, and fishways have been established to aid their migration. The Ulsan city government also monitors migratory bird movements and endeavors to secure habitats for them, utilizing wetlands and bamboo forests in the basin. It is also registered as East Asian-Australasian Flyway Network Site and Ulsan City is managing the site.

Project Activities

1. Birdwatching eco-tour bus: Birdwatching activity within the EAAFlyway Network Site incl. Taehwa River
2. Education programme: Introducing Taehwa River as a successful restoration case study with its history of being affected by industrialisation, eco/hydrological effort* to become a safe and clean river, and current status as designated National Garden
* Sludge dredging, WWTP optimisation, non-point source pollutants control, and Ecopolis Ulsan
Declaration, Taehwa River Masterplan, etc. → Increasing citizen awareness and understanding of Taehwa River and its chronological improvement

Expected Outcomes

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Latest Results

No results provided yet.

Ecohydrology Principles and Solutions

Hydrological Quantification

Quantification of the hydrological processes at catchment scale and mapping the impacts | Ecological engineering (integration, dual regulation and biotechnologies in catchment scale for enhancement of ecological potential)

Ecological Identification

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Ecological Engineering & Nature-based Solutions

The Korea National Fishway Information System website provides comprehensive data on weir characteristics, location, and conditions in the Taehwa River. The mainstream and tributaries of the Taehwa River have 12 flow measuring points, 20 water quality measuring points, and 36 biological measuring points, and more than 30+ parameters such as BOD, TP, TN, and Chlorophy of water quality monitoring data were collected last 20 years. | Ulsan City is actively working to protect the native plants of the Taehwa River by eradicating harmful foreign plants and creating habitats for silver grass that naturally grows around the sewage treatment plant. This not only promotes the preservation of local flora but also provides a sanctuary for citizens to enjoy the beauty of nature. | The Taehwa River is home to over 700 species of flora and fauna, including 127 bird species and 64 fish species. Every year, salmon and other fish species return to the river, and fishways have been established to aid their migration. The Ulsan city government also monitors migratory bird movements and endeavors to secure habitats for them, utilizing wetlands and bamboo forests in the basin. It is also registered as East Asian-Australasian Flyway Network Site and Ulsan City is managing the site.

Objectives

EH Objectives

Water 5/5

Biodiversity 3/5

Services 4/5

Resilience 3/5

Cultural Heritage 0/5

Project Objectives

Culture, The Taehwa River basin has been inhabited since prehistoric times and has been used as the main living space of our ancestors for thousands of years. Historically, because it belongs to the cultural sphere of the Silla Dynasty and the cultural sphere of the Gaya period, it has many historical sites and cultural heritages. In particular, there are 94 cultural assets in the Taehwa River basin, including Bangudae petroglyphs, Cheonjeonri petroglyphs, and the stupa of Seoknamsa Temple. Education, Ulsan builds an education system based on the establishment of a safe educational environment, and the realization of educational welfare, to nurture competent talents with upright character and creativity. Law, Ulsan City has established and enforced the Taehwa River National Garden Operation and Management Ordinance, which includes guidelines for the comprehensive management and effective operation of the Taehwa River. Furthermore, the city has designated ecological landscape conservation areas and wildlife conservation areas to safeguard the habitats of the river. Policy, The city's environment was polluted by growth-first policies, but the Taehwa River Restoration Project included a water quality improvement project and a riverfront development project, and stakeholders' participation produced good results, especially economic wealth and political stability.

Key Stakeholders

Ulsan Biodiversity Center Ulsan Taehwa Eco-tour Center Ulsan Institute of Health & Environment Ulsan Research Institute Ulsan University Ulsan net zero center Ulsan International Development and Cooperation Center National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) Chungnam National University – the university owns a real-time transmitter to monitor the migratory fish (dace,sweetfish, salmon) Ministry of Environment (ME) Ulsan metropolitan city

Methodology

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