[Photo] 3 years after construction, Yeongju Dam still unable to serve its original purpose

As part of its four major rivers project, the Lee Myung-bak administration poured over 1.1 trillion won (around US$1 billion) to construct the Yeongju Dam under the objective of improving the water quality of the Nakdong River and to provide water for public and commercial use. However, nearly three years after the dam’s construction was completed, the dam has yet to be filled. The dam was completed in October 2016, and within the past year only 16% of the dam’s minimum water level has been filled. Moreover, before the dam’s weir was open in 2018, the buildup of algal blooms proved a consistent problem, not to mention an environmental hazard. One of the images even shows cracks in the one of the dam’s paths designed for cars.