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WATER COOPERATION, SUSTAINABILITY AND POVERTY ERADICATIONstructure in Unified Korea. In addition, the socioeconomic growth ofSouth Korea has led to increasing needs for water resources and sanitaryfacilities. Since 1999, when South Korea became a donor country,opportunities for international water cooperation have increased.In 1991, KOICA was established to set up a grant for developingand underdeveloped countries. International water cooperation inKorea can be divided into direct and indirect cooperation. Directcooperation is divided into a grant and a concessional loan. Thegrant is managed by KOICA and the loan is managed by the Export-Import Bank of Korea. Indirect cooperation is managed by theMinistry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.The number of primary grants is rapidly increasing today.In addition, the International Hydrological Programme (IHP) of theUnited Nations started with the support of the Ministry of Constructionand Transport in 1997, and is now in its seventh phase entitled ‘WaterDependencies: Systems under Stress and Societal Responses’. SouthKorea has been listed on the IHP National Committee since 2002, andwas re-elected in 2010. It is now an executive member of the Asia-Pacific region (Group IV) along with Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia,Pakistan, Iran and North Korea. In 2003, South Korea also joinedthe Network of Asian River Basin Organizations, which helps waterresources-related organizations and government agencies such as riverbasin organizations in developing countries to promote technologicalexchange programmes on water resources operation and management.In Thailand, the National Water Resources and Flood PolicyCommittee (NWRFPC), led by the Prime Minister, was establishedin 2012. Since the great flood in 2001, NWRFPC has been working onthe integrated water resources management of 25 rivers in Thailandincluding the Chao Phraya River, in which a number of Koreanorganizations are involved. Moreover, the experience of the FourRivers Project in Korea triggered international technical exchangeprogrammes among other countries such as Morocco and Paraguay.In order to facilitate transboundary water cooperation in the MekongRiver Basin, GGGI and KWRA have been working together since 2012on the Green Growth Framework for Water Resources Managementin the Mekong River Basin project. The overall objective of the projectis to enhance the capacity of the riparian countries (Cambodia, LaoPeople’s Democratic Republic, Thailand and Viet Nam)and the Mekong River Commission Secretariat to implementthe green growth policy framework in relation towater resources development at the national and basinlevels. The project is expected to establish an appropriatewater and green growth framework model that can beapplied to transboundary water basins at the global level.It is worth taking a closer look at the most significantwater project, the Four Rivers Project in Korea. Theproject aims to restore the ecological functions of the fourmajor rivers, which have been degraded and disturbed byanthropogenic activities, especially during the period ofindustrialization since the 1960s. It is regarded as a usefulreference for developing countries. The project has beenevaluated as good practice in the OECD EnvironmentalOutlook to 2050, which praised it as a comprehensiveapproach to managing water resources in rivers and achievinggreen growth through water. The Four Rivers Project isa multipurpose water project to achieve water security andprevent water-related natural disasters such as floods anddroughts that often take place owing to climate change.The Four Rivers Project provides a total solution forriver restoration. Its five key objectives are to:• implement comprehensive flood control• secure a sufficient amount of water resourcesagainst potential water scarcity• improve water quality and restore the ecosystems inand around the rivers• create multifunctional areas for local residents• prepare for further revitalization of the riversystems by local authorities in the future.The project will renew and rehabilitate a total 929 km ofthe four rivers. Subsequent projects, which will be administeredby local governments, will restore more than 10,000km of local streams and 39 riparian wetlands. The totalbudget for the project is estimated at US$ 19.2 billion.The Four Rivers Project: measures and effectsFlood controlWater securityWater quality improvementEcological restorationWaterfront developmentMeasuresDredging: 450 million m 3Detentions: 5 placesReinforcing dilapidated levees: 784 kmMovable weirs: 16Dams: 2Elevating agricultural reservoir banks: 96Sewage treatment facilities: 1,281Total-phosphorus treatment facilities: 233Ecological wetlands: 11.8 million m 2Fish-ways: 33 sitesBicycle paths: 1,757 kmTourist attraction sites: 36EffectsLowering flood water levels (2-4 m)Secure 1.3 billion m 3 of waterSwimmable water 76% - 86%Improve natural ecology & promote eco-tourismBetter quality of lifeSource: MLTM, 2009[ 205 ]