Brazil's ANA declares critical water scarcity on Tacutu, Maú rivers until April 2027

Brazil's National Water and Sanitation Agency (ANA) declared critical water scarcity on the Tacutu and Maú rivers in Roraima until April 30, 2027, allowing sanitation regulators and providers to adopt contingency tariffs if the scarcity forces rationing or generates additional costs.

The resolution, Resolution ANA No. 311, was signed Nov. 9 and published in the Diário Oficial da União on Nov. 10, the date it took effect. The two rivers are in the Rio Branco river basin.

According to the resolution, regulators and sanitation service providers may adopt contingency tariff mechanisms if the scarcity forces rationing or generates additional costs from the water crisis.

The declaration also allows ANA to set and enforce water-use rules on federally controlled water bodies it covers. It signals to water-user sectors that they need to implement their contingency plans during the scarcity period, the resolution said.

ANA said the declaration aims to step up hydrological monitoring of the two rivers, identify impacts on water uses and propose prevention and mitigation measures with user sectors and water resource agencies.

The declaration is also meant to support, with civil defense agencies, procedures for declaring a situation of emergency or a state of public calamity resulting from the drought, according to the resolution.

ANA will track conditions in the basin through its Northern Region Crisis Room, with Roraima's State Foundation for the Environment and Water Resources and water-user sectors. It will keep an online panel showing the levels of the Tacutu and Maú rivers while the declaration is in force.

The declaration may be extended if critical conditions persist, or ended early if a technical assessment finds the rivers' hydrological conditions have recovered, the resolution said.