'Heat is the least of it': Parched fields run dry as farm water runs out

A severe drought has compounded an extreme heat wave — with temperatures topping 40 degrees Celsius in parts of the region — leaving South Gyeongsang Province facing a critical shortage of agricultural water.

Of the province's 18 cities and counties, Miryang, Yangsan and Uiryeong-gun have been placed under the Alert level for agricultural drought, according to Yonhap. The drought warning system has four tiers — Caution, Attention, Alert and Serious — with Alert issued when paddy field reservoir levels drop to 50 percent or below of the seasonal average.

The Korea Rural Community Corporation manages 569 agricultural reservoirs across the 18 cities and counties of South Gyeongsang Province. According to the Rural Water Resources Integrated Information System, the province's combined reservoir storage rate stood at 52.9 percent on July 1 but fell to 41.7 percent by Friday.

That puts South Gyeongsang Province among the lowest in the country, alongside Jeju. The figure falls far short of the 74 percent recorded a year ago and the seasonal average of around 72 percent.

The decline has accelerated sharply since late July, when the heat wave and drought intensified. With evaporation rising on top of ongoing water withdrawals for farming, reservoir levels have been dropping by as much as 1 percentage point per day on some days.

The Korea Rural Community Corporation warned that if current weather conditions persist, reservoir levels could fall below 40 percent in early August. Changwon, Jinju, Gimhae, Miryang, Yangsan, Uiryeong-gun, Changnyeong-gun, Hadong-gun and Sancheong-gun all saw their levels drop below 40 percent already in July.

The remaining cities and counties are faring little better, with storage rates hovering in the 40 to 50 percent range. As of late July, several smaller reservoirs had fallen below 10 percent capacity — including Miryang's Baegan Reservoir at 1.1 percent, Miryang's Geumpo Reservoir at 2 percent and Changwon's Chugok Reservoir at 7.4 percent — effectively rendering them unable to supply agricultural water.

The Korea Rural Community Corporation said it is doing everything it can to maintain supply, drawing water from nearby streams to replenish reservoirs and pumping river water or groundwater directly to paddy fields.

This summer's monsoon season brought almost no significant rainfall to South Gyeongsang Province. Southern regions received an average of 143.2 millimeters of rain during the one-month period from June 30 to Wednesday, just 52.4 percent of the seasonal average of 271.7 millimeters. Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province recorded only 68.0 millimeters — a mere 22.4 percent of the normal 297.6 millimeters for the same period.

Farmers said water must be plentiful in paddy fields from this point in the season — when rice plants begin to form ears — through to harvest, and warned that the shortage poses a serious threat.

"Right now, when the rice is growing most vigorously, it needs both sunlight and water — and while there's plenty of sun, there's far too little water," said Woo Bong-hui, a farmer in Dong-eup, Uichang-gu, Changwon. "If the drought continues, this year's harvest could fall sharply."

Another farmer said the lack of water was stunting growth. "Fertilizer only dissolves and gets absorbed by the rice when the paddies are flooded — without water, the rice simply can't grow," the farmer said.

Farmers added that the water shortage is also hampering the growth of fruit trees and dry-field crops, not just rice paddies.