National Water and Sanitation Agency of Brazil

The National Water Agency (ANA) is legally liable for implementing the National Water Resources Management System (SINGREH), created to ensure the sustainable use of our rivers and lakes for the current and future generations. This implies regulating the use of water according to the mechanisms established by Law No. 9433, of 1997, amongst which the following stand out: the granting of rights to the use of water resources aimed at disciplining the use of water bodies, in relation to the collection of water and discharging of effluents; inspection, to assure that the grants are licenses effectively respected and not mere notarial formalisms, and the charge for use of the water, to assure that the water bodies are used with parsimony, in addition to making possible the generation of the necessary financial resources to recover and conserve rivers and lakes. These three mechanisms have been implemented in an articulated manner in each river basin, which requires harmony between the ANA and the water-managing bodies and entities of the State Governments, as Brazilian rivers are under the domain of both the Federal Government and the States. However, the regulation scope of the ANA reaches other management tools, is also relevant to the effective performance of the SINGREH and represents the grounds for good water management in the Country. In this regard, the Agency carries out actions of Management Support, Monitoring and Planning of Water Resources, in addition to offering Information for improvement of the performance of the water resources management agencies and of the sectors that use these resources.

ANA also creates water resources plans that, for example, allow diagnosing and guiding specific actions for water transfer to different users. Furthermore, it identifies constraints and opportunities for the development of productive activities that use water as basic input. ANA further stimulates the creation of river basin committees, particularly in rivers under the Federal Government’s domain, which, in turn, promote the articulation of civil society representatives, water users, and public authorities, to build an agenda based on the protection of these basins, and harmonized with the sustainable development opportunities in their areas. Likewise, it promotes a set of programs and projects destined to the spreading of practices related to the use of water resources, cleaning up of water basins, and the dissemination of periodic information on the condition of the Brazilian water basins, among others. In short, the ANA reconciles implementing skills related to the National Water Resources Policy and SINGREH, in addition to exercising the role of the regulatory agency and good practices inducing agents in regard to water use.