Ansan Reed Marshy Park

Ansan Reed Marshy Park

Ansan Reed Marshy Park (安山芦苇濕地公園, Korean: 안산갈대습지공원) is a wetland park located in Sadong, Sangnok-gu, Ansan-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea.

As the first man-made wetland in Korea, the park which began construction in 1997 and was completed in December 2005, was originally called Sihwa Lake Wetland Park, but in April 2014, the jurisdiction of the park was divided between Ansan City and Hwaseong City from the Korea Water Resources Corporation, the part of Ansan City is called Ansan Reed Marshy Park, and the part of Hwaseong City is called Bibong Marshy Park. Since 2014, the Ansan Reed Marshy Park has been pursuing Ramsar wetland status, and the park has served as a measure of the recovery of the Sihwa Lake ecosystem.

Background

Under the Sihwa District Reclamation Project Plan, which aims to expand Ansan Smart Hubwas and agricultural land, the area, formerly called Gunja Bay, was constructed as the Sihwa Sea Wall from 1987 to 1994. As the seawall impounded the water and turned it into a freshwater lake, factory wastewater and domestic sewage accumulated. The water quality rapidly deteriorated, with an average of 17.4 parts per million (ppm) of chemical oxygen demand (COD), far exceeding the agricultural water standard of 8 ppm, and some spots exceeding 80 ppm, leading to the death of many organisms.

It was nicknamed the “Lake of Death” and criticized by local residents and public opinion for destroying the ecosystem. A subsequent audit by the National Audit Office found that 6979 wastewater pipes were poorly constructed due to KWRA's lack of supervision, resulting in an average of 7,000 tons of wastewater being discharged per day, and that Ansan City's sewage treatment plant was also poorly operated, resulting in the discharge of wastewater, which the KWRA had underestimated in its environmental impact assessment at 5.7 ppm. This led to the disciplinary action of 14 officials from the Korea Water Resources Corporation, Ansan City, the Han River Basin Environment Agency, and the Ministry of Construction and Transportation."[3][4] The next step was to save Sihwa Lake. As a measure to improve water quality, the government will expand sewage treatment plants, conduct a pilot seawater distribution through drainage gates, and create an artificial wetland area upstream of Sihwa Lake.[5][6][7