Abstract
Yeongsan River, located at jeollanam-do, is one of four major rivers in Korea, having four dams on the upper stream for water for agricultural use and thirteen tributaries on the main stream. Submerged weirs are installed in the streams to maintain its water level or to gather water for the agricultural use, but due to the growing awareness of ecological conservation, these weirs are being removed to restore streams to their natural forms.Weirs cause a number of environmental problems: the blocking of ecological corridors, the forming of stagnant water, and the deteriorating of water quality due to stream channel sediments. This study aims at measuring the water quality of upper and lower streams near by the submerged weirs in Gwangju of Korea. Resulting measurements indicated that BOD, COD, and SS tended to be lower in the lower stream than in the upper stream and that the submerged weirs had no influence on T-N and T-P. Before the removal of non-functional weirs for the sake of improving water quality and restoring ecological corridors, a stream management plan should be provided after thoroughly examining the weir's full effect on the ecosystem.Key words : Submerged Weir, Environmental problem, ecological corridor, water quality
