Stephen Drown, an International Ecology Landscaping Specialist from Idaho State University
Professor Drown (the second from the left) is talking as he looks at the Sejong Weir.
He has given a good score in all of the aspects in size, technology, creative design, and accessibility on the Sejong Weir.
“It looks like ecology restoration is a keyword. It is brilliant.”
October 6th when the Baekje Weir of the Geum River was opened to the public after two years of construction, Professor Stephen Drown, an international ecology landscape architecture specialist in Idaho State University expressed a fragment of his impression on the surrounding areas of the Geum River with this saying.
Professor Drown is currently the head of Landscaping Environmental Program in architectural engineering department, and he has been giving lectures on ecology, landscaping, and forest science for the past 35 years. He is one of the founders committees and the vice president of Colour Columbus, a nonprofit organization of environmental beautification, and also has been rewarded by the government for contributions he made to create eco-friendly spaces under collaboration with Columbus city, Ohio State. His first stop was at the Sejong Weir adjacent to the first village of Sejong City meeting the Geum River. Sejong weir is an underwater weir designed to be 348m long (with a 125m fixed weir and a 223m movable weir) and 2.8m to 4m in height and despite of its small size, it was reborn to be an ecological space with natural fish ways and a small hydroelectric power plant with capacity of 2310 kW (770kW x 3times).
“It is obvious to see the efforts to purify and circulate water. Water stagnation will never happen.” His statement has reversed claims of the anti-Four Major Rivers Restoration Project groups, “water will not circulate with weirs installation and its quality will be downgraded.”
The Sejong Weir holds a facility for water surface purification (aerator) inducing the circulation of water and preventing water quality downgrades due to sediments. Professor Drown said “If the weirs were too high, then the water would have brimmed over while the weir is in operation effecting the downstream of the river. But the height of this weir is just about right.” He has given a good score in all of the aspects in size, technology, creative design, and accessibility on the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project near the Geum River including the Sejong Weir.
At the Columbus River of the Ohio State where Prof. Drown used to live, large-scaled dams were developed between 1950 and 1960. For the facilities have gone obsolete and a few species were impeded to swim out to the ocean with time, an extensive maintenance construction was required. In fact, it is in progress and the parts of dams are being torn down. “It has been a long time since the development of the Columbus River. But if such technologies had been applied to dams near it from the beginning, it would not have been needed to procure and to spend large amount of resources again.” “The fish ways in the Sejong Weir are a creative example to display how human can coexist with nature,” he added. Especially he praised the nature walks near the river as “they have a powerful magnetism inviting humans to the waterfront area.”
“Still there are many people arguing that the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project is the destruction of nature.” And Prof. Drown replied, “Human and nature should not be separated. Human is a part of nature, and there is no way to benefit nature if human is not being benefited.” What it means is that dredging and the development of waterfront area are not an one-way development advancing only humans, but it is the ‘Collaboration’ between human and nature promoting better use of natural ecosystem for preventing flood and securing fresh water.
