The dam is built on the Geum River, also spelled Keum River or Geumgang River, which is the longest river in the central part of South Korea. The downstream stretch of the river up to the estuary is. The dam drains a catchment area of. The land use pattern of the watershed is 74.5% of forest and hilly area, 16.3% of agricultural land of paddy and other crops, and 9.2% of urban area. The river is joined by five major tributaries and exhibits a drainage pattern. The catchment receives an annual average rainfall of of which more than 50% is recorded during the summer months from July to September, and many episodic events of more than have been recorded in a day. The hydrology of the project is thus influenced by the seasonal monsoon climate. There is scenic road on the entire periphery of the lake where Hyeonamsa Temple, and Munuihyanggyo Confucian School are located.
Features
The multipurpose Daecheong Dam completed in 1980 is in height, long and has a gross reservoir capacity of 1.49 million cubic meters. The reservoir water surface area is. It has three saddle dams on the reservoir periphery to prevent spilling of water. Following the building of the dam flood damage in the downstream reaches has been substantially prevented and salinity of the downstream land has also reduced. The annual inflow into the reservoir is 2,451 million cubic meter. The effective storage created by the dam is 790 million cubic meter. The mean depth of water is with a mean residence time of 180 days. The High Flood Level of the reservoir is EL 80 m and the Full Reservoir Level is EL 76.5 m. An upstream dam on the upper basin of Geum River, about upstream, reduces the flow intensity and also the inflow into the reservoir. The water supply from the reservoir is provided to Chungcheong, Daejeon, Cheongju, Jeollabuk-do areas which include Gunsan, Jeonju, and Iksan. The dam has hydro power facility with installed capacity of 90 MW and the annual power generation is around 240 million kWh. Nutrient loading of the reservoir has occurred due to agricultural flows and from livestock farms in the catchment. It is classified as meso-stratified. Organic matter loading, Mn ) in the lake is about 78.3% during heavy rainfall season, from June to September.
Daecheong Dam Water Culture Center
On the bank of the reservoir, a water-themed cultural museum called the Daecheong Dam Water Culture Center was established on 6 July 2004. It has three exhibition halls which display information on the dam, uses of water, environmental features of the area around on the Geumgang River also on the aspect of cultural aspects of the villages which were submerged by the reservoir and about people living on its periphery. The center also has a theater, information center, and an observatory.
