Emphasis in the construction and management of dams in Korea had been put on the aspects of irrigation and flood control until 1980s so as to secure supply water and reduce damage due to floods. Beginning from 1990s when Korea took its place among the group of the advanced countries and people began to concern about the quality of their living, however, environmental problems involved in water resources developmental projects came to the front of social issues. Now that environmental consideration in the construction of dams is perceived as a matter of course, and the existing dams should be remodeled to be environmentally friendly, systematic researches are required for the environment-friendly management of multipurpose dams.
With the recent appearance of a new paradigm that demands the protection of natural environment, the influence on the environment is required to be limited to the least in the operation of dams. Most of dams in Korea were built before the 1980s when the environmental assessment was not implemented and proper consideration was not given to the environment protection. In the operation of the existing dams, diverse methods to restore the damaged environment and ecology to the original state are required to be developed to replace the factors unfriendly to environment and for that, actual conditions of the existing dams and management examples in the advanced countries should be collected and investigated for reference in the future construction and management of dams. Korea has no other ways but to further build dams to secure water resources despi