13 Deaths Annually Due to Floods Over 10 Years... AI to Be Used for Flood Control Dam Discharge

[Financial News]  



The government announced on the 29th the 'Measures to Prevent Recurrence of Flood Damage', which includes establishing a dam discharge operation system using artificial intelligence (AI) to minimize damage in response to changed flood patterns due to climate change.
According to the Ministry of Environment, over the past 10 years, floods have caused an average of 13 deaths annually and property damage amounting to 257.9 billion won, and it is expected that flood volumes will increase across all basins due to frequent heavy rains in the future.
The government first plans to establish an operation system that analyzes downstream basin flow and water level prediction data using AI, and based on this, determines whether to discharge dams.
Guidelines for preliminary discharge considering predicted rainfall in the dam basin and the current water levels of dams and rivers will also be prepared.
It plans to share different flood prediction models between agencies to use them in determining dam discharge volumes and timing.
Additionally, it will comprehensively consider existing dam performance diagnostic results, such as water supply capacity or flood control capacity, along with climate change, to review flood season restricted water levels.
Moreover, when approving dam discharge volumes, it will notify not only the maximum discharge volume but also the minimum discharge volume, and provide dam discharge information frequently so that discharge volumes and river water levels can be checked in real-time.
The frequency of providing dam discharge prediction information will be increased from twice a day to three times, and during the floodgate discharge period, disaster messages can be sent even after 6 PM.
Furthermore, it decided to utilize 'AI Precipitation Prediction' for ultra-short-term forecasts (1-hour cycle, 6-hour prediction) in dam basin water management.
Through the 'Flood Situation Integrated Control System', it will share the status of equipment owned by each agency in real-time and expand the system usage to basic local governments.
To improve flood forecast accuracy and expand flood information provision points, the number of water level observation stations will be increased from 933 to 978, and closed-circuit TVs (CCTVs) from 388 to 523 by next year.

ktitk@fnnews.com Kim Taekyung Reporter