In pictures: Brazil’s water supply challenge

The Teles Pires dam project, with an estimated installed capacity of 1,820 MW, is slated to be the second largest hydropower project within the “Program for Accelerated Growth” of Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff. Roosevelt Cassio / Reuters

Initial investments for the Teles Pires dam project have been estimated at approximately US$2 billion, with over US$800 million in subsidised loans from the Brazilian National Development Bank. Roosevelt Cassio / Reuters

The Teles Pires dam is a gravity dam constructed of composite materials layered on a roller-compacted concrete core. Roosevelt Cassio / Reuters

The Teles Pires dam is a gravity dam constructed of composite materials layered on a roller-compacted concrete core. Roosevelt Cassio / Reuters

Initial investments for the Teles Pires dam project have been estimated at approximately US$2 billion, with over US$800 million in subsidised loans from the Brazilian National Development Bank. Roosevelt Cassio / Reuters

A government worker surveys the cracked ground of Jaguari dam, which is part of the Cantareira reservoir in Sao Paulo. Brazil on January 2014 saw the driest summer on record in Sao Paulo. Roosevelt Cassio / Reuters

A woman fishes on the coasts of Jaguari dam, part of the Cantareira reservoir. Paulo Whitaker / Reuters

Liz Claus

The Teles Pires hydroelectric dam being constructed along the Teles Pires river is part of a project involving the construction of six dams to create a navigable waterway for the transportation of Brazil’s agricultural and mineral commodities from the interior of the country to the Atlantic Ocean.

Updated: May 26, 2014, 12:00 AM