Report finds 213 dams in critical condition across Brazil
Of the more than 14,000 dams under Brazil’s National Dam Safety Policy, 213 pose a risk of accidents that could affect people or key parts of infrastructure, such as roads and bridges.
The data can be found in a yearly report released by the National Water and Basic Sanitation Agency (ANA), which has been conducted since 2011.
Among the various sectors, mining has the highest number of structures with problems, at 55 (26%), while 51 (24%) of those dedicated to supplying water to the population are in a similar situation, followed by structures for irrigation with 29 (14%), flow regulation with 20 (9%), landscaping with 17 (8%), animal watering with 16 (8%), and other uses, with 25 (12%).
National policy
Noteworthy, however, is the slow progress in implementing the policy. Even though the number of structures registered in the national dam system has increased – from 28,085 in 2024 to 29,761 in 2025 – 14,355 (48%) of them are listed as having an “undefined” status. This means that the agency that registered them – there are currently 33 such agencies in the country – did not provide key information to determine whether these structures fall under the policy.
“Dams covered by [the policy] are those that have at least one of the following characteristics – a total capacity greater than 3 million cubic meters (equivalent to 3 million water tanks); a reservoir containing hazardous waste; an average or high potential associated damage; or a dam wall height greater than 15 meters,” ANA reports – in other words, any dam that poses a risk is included.
One solution to complete these details about the dams – and also about the over 14,000 dams with an undefined classification – includes building a robust system for inspection and enforcement.
Inspection
This path does not seem to be explored. “For the first time since the Brumadinho dam accident in 2019, there has been a decline in the number of professionals working in dam inspection. Among the 33 institutions that perform this oversight role, 333 professionals are working in this field, of whom 161 (48%) are exclusively dedicated to dam safety and 172 (52%) share this responsibility with other activities,” the agency stated.
“Even with this shortage of professionals, dam safety inspections increased from 2024 to 2025, both for those conducted through field visits and for those based on document reviews. During this period, on-site inspections rose from 2,859 to 2,924 (up two percent), and document-based inspections rose from 3,162 to 4,712 (up 49 percent),” the text notes, highlighting the efforts of professionals in the sector.
