The government will fully use water control facilities such as agricultural reservoirs, hydropower dams, and estuary barrages this summer to prevent flood damage. It plans to utilize facilities not typically used for flood control to secure up to an additional 1.04 billion tons of flood control capacity.
The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment reported the 2026 summer flood countermeasures at the 21st Cabinet meeting on the 12th. The move comes from a judgment that response capacity must be strengthened proactively as record hourly rainfall and localized downpours have become more frequent.
The government will change the way existing facilities are operated to expand flood control capacity from 10.82 billion tons to 11.86 billion tons. It said this would have an effect similar to operating about three Hantangang Dams additionally, and is expected to save about 4 trillion won in the budget without building new dams.
Agricultural reservoirs will secure storage space by releasing water in advance when rainfall is forecast. As a result, flood control capacity will increase from 640 million tons to up to 1.06 billion tons.
Hydropower dams will move away from generation-centered operations and conduct pre-releases in parallel. Flood control capacity will expand from 380 million tons to up to 820 million tons, and an additional 30 million tons of response capacity will be secured at pumped-storage dams. Goesan Dam, where overtopping occurred during the 2023 heavy rains, will operate emergency spill facilities for intensive management.
The operating standards for the Geum River, Yeongsan River, and Nakdong River estuary barrages and the Asan Bay sea dike will also be revised to newly secure up to 150 million tons of flood control capacity.
Forecasting systems will also be strengthened. For the first time this year, the government will pilot an AI-based urban inundation forecast service for six districts around Gangnam Station and Sindaebang Station in Seoul. It will pre-forecast the extent and depth of inundation and issue an "inundation advisory" and an "inundation warning," helping local governments and police and fire authorities take on-site measures such as access control and installing flood barriers. The ultra-short-term precipitation prediction model will expand its coverage to the entire Korean Peninsula.
The disaster text alert system will also be revamped. When rivers are on the verge of overflowing, flood information at the "serious" level will be sent as an emergency disaster text at maximum volume (40 dB or higher) instead of the existing safety guidance text.