Hampyeong County, which has enhanced its position with biannual festivals in spring and fall, is going to leap as international green city though the Yeongsan River Revitalization Project. In the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project which started from last year, Hampyeong, designated as 'the leading sector of revitalizing the Yeongsan River Project' with Naju city. As a part of the revitalizing the Yeongsan River Project, Hampyeong County have been running stream environment improvement project for the Hampyeong Stream which is the first tributary of the Yeongsan River. If once the work in the Zone 2(near Expo Park which held in Butterfly Fest) is completed, immediately the work in Zone 1 and 3 will kick off.
By the time the completion of this project scheduled to complete until 2014, the water quality would take 'the 2nd Grade of pure water' which verifies 'good and potable water' in comparing 2009 water quality record saying 4.4mg/L in BOD.
As the streams get to be vitalized, joyful guests came to visit. Last April, in the Hampyeong Stream, 5 painted snipes were spotted, being the rare varieties of birds designated as natural monument number 449. It seems that they spent last winter here, according to the specialists' opinion; there is high possibility that the Hampyeong Stream might become the birds' new habitat. The painted snipe is a bird that inhabits in rice paddy, lake or marsh. In Korea, 2000, they were reportedly found with spawning nest in the Cheonsu Bay.
The restoration works of 'old river channels' are still on active progress. Old river channel means the trait of the old water stream being left as dried channel now. Flowing with fresh water again through the barren old channel implicates the significant meaning of 'the revitalization' besides the simple physical fact of water flow. In near future, the county plans to create ecological wetland named 'Nabile Grassland'. After completion of it, we can expect that diverse lives once forgotten like firefly, otter, golden bat and so on.
