본 연구는 4대강 사업에 따른 낙동강 수질의 변동성을 평가하기 위한 것으로, 낙동강에 건설된 8개 보 건설 전후의 수질을 비교, 분석하였다. 이를 위해 보에서 가장 인접한 상류 수질측정지점을 대상으로 4대강 사업전(2003년 1월부터 2008년 11월), 사업중(2008년 9월부터 2012년 4월), 사업후(2012년 5월부터 2017년 9월)까지의 3개 기간에 대해 DO, BOD, COD, SS, T-N, T-P, TOC 등의 수질자료를 수집하였다. 4대강 사업전후 자료의 유의성 검증을 위해 대응검정 T-test를 95%의 신뢰구간에서 실시 한 결과 DO, BOD, COD, T-N, TOC는 사업 전보다 사업 후 수질 농도가 높아지는 경향이 있으며, 그 중 BOD, COD, TOC의 농도가 큰 차이를 보였다. 반면에 SS, T-P는 사업 전보다 사업 후 농도값이 감소하였다. 수질인자 중 변화값이 큰 BOD, COD, TOC를 수질등급으로 나누어 공간적으로 분석 해 본 결과 사업전에 비해 사업후의 수질등급이 나빠지는 경향을 보였다.

River channel dredging and riparian development have been influenced morphology and quantity of natural river habitat. We compared distribution of riverside land and alluvial island in the Nakdong River with field survey and remote sensing analysis after the 4 Large River Project in South Korea. We digitized geomorphological elements, includes main channel, riverside land, and alluvial island by using georeferenced aerial photos taken in pre-dredging (2008) and post-dredging (2012) periods. Field survey was followed in 2012 for a ground truth of digitized boundaries and identification of newly constructed wetland types such as pond, channel, branch, and riverine type. We found that during the dredging period, riverside land and alluvial island were lost by 20.2% and 72.7%, respectively. Modification rate of riverside land was higher in the section of river kilometer 50~90, 140~180, and 210~270. Alluvial island had higher change rate in the section of river kilometer 50~70, 190~210, and 270~310. Average change rate for the riverside land and alluvial island was - 1.02±0.14 km² ·10 km¯¹ and - 0.05±0.05 km² ·10 km¯¹, respectively. Channel shaped wetlands (72.5%) constituted large portion of newly constructed wetlands.

The purpose of this study was to analyze fish fauna and species compositions along with trophic guilds, tolerance indicators, and fish community conditions before weir construction (BWC) and after weir construction (AWC) in the Yeongsan River watershed. Total 45 and 44 fish species were sampled in BWC and AWC, respectively without any distinct differences through weir constructions. Fish fauna analysis revealed that the dominant species was the same, Zacco platypus with 24.3% and 20.8% in BWC and AWC, respectively. However, the subdominant species were Carassius auratus with 8.9% in BWC but Opsarichthys uncirostris amurensis with 20.3%, almost identical that of the dominant species AWC. This phenomenon showed the distinct modification of species composition in the watershed. We sampled the 1st class endangered species, Liobagrus obesus in tributary stream as previously reported. Also Culter brevicauda was sampled in the mainstream of Yeongsan River watershed and this was the first sampled record in this watershed. One of the most important features were an increase of exotic species, such as Micropterus salmoides and Lepomis macrochirus, with 3.2% BWC vs. 10.2% AWC as well as the increase in tolerant species with 49.2% BWC vs. 73.7% AWC, indicating ecological degradation through weir construction. Overall, our results indicated that fish fauna and composition analyses showed distinct ecological degradations related to increases of exotic and tolerant species AWC. Further long-term studies of fish monitoring should be conducted in the future to configure existent status of river conditions and to provide key information in order to conserve the healthy ecosystem.

General features of sediment budget for the Nakdong River before the Four Rivers Restoration Project were analyzed using surveying, dredging, and mining data for the past 20 years, as well as sediment data measured from the tributaries, and numerical modeling, etc. As a result of the sediment budget analysis of the Nakdong River before the Four Rivers Restoration Project, sediment inflow supplied from the watershed is 2,100,000 m3/yr and sediment outflow including mining and dredging volumes is 10,180,000 m3/yr. Therefore, the bed change volume estimated by the sediment budget analysis is -8,080,000 m3/yr of the bed erosion volume which is similar to the analysis result (-8,300,000 m3/yr) of natural and artificial bed changes using the surveyed data.

In this study, the effects of four major river project and Kumho River, second biggest branch of Nakdong River, were investigated to provide basic data for proper management of Nakdong River’s water quality. Daily sampling processes at three different points, Munsanri (the upper side of Kangjung-Koryung weir), Kangchang (the outlet of the Kumho River) and Samunjin (the lower side of Kangjung-Koryung weir and junction of Kumho River and Nakdong River), were conducted from May 1st 2011 to Sep. 4th 2011. Water samples were analyzed for nine factors, DO, BOD, COD, T-N, T-P, pH, turbidity, SS, and coliform. As demonstrated by the results, concentrations of BOD, T-N, T-P and coliform at Nakdong River were affected by water quality of Kumho River while SS and turbidity were affected by constructions for Kangjung-Koryung weir. Further studies, for example, affects of wastewater treatment facilities, should be followed.