통합물관리를 위한 법제 정비방향

The unification of water management, or integrated water resource management(IWRM), requires a change in paradigm to something that’s different from the previous laws on managing water. But about 3 years since the three laws on water management were made, nothing has changed other than the fact that part of the jurisdiction on water management has moved under the Ministry of Environment. One cannot help but question the government’s will and capacity to unify the management of water resources. Establishing law is both the starting point and end point of water management because policies are completed through law. However good an idea is, it’s useless without legislation. In other words, the faster water management is institutionalized, the faster it’ll settle down. This paper ultimately has in mind the integration of all enactments and amendments of laws into one law. But for now, I intend to suggest a direction first before laying out the detailed measures needed for that unification. This process would attempt answering and raising questions on the ‘how’ section of the project. For convenience sake, I’ve grouped together items that are deemed subject to integration (i.e. planning/information, upper stream/lower stream, water quantity/quality, surface water/ground water, land use/water, water rights, facilities/businesses and organizations/institutions) and we will take a look at each group one by one. Setting a direction is important because it helps us to clearly understand the problems and solutions. Needless to say, the direction for the integrated legislation of water management is about solving the overlapping problem and boosting efficiency. There is a sense that we have let the golden time pass for laying the groundworks of unifying water management. Hence, the urgent goal is, for realizing the basic principles of water management and substantial IWRM, to suggest concrete and rational measures through chemical and substantial integration of related laws.