Foum Gleita Dam, Arch dam near Foum Gleita, Mauritania.

Foum Gleita Dam is an arch dam built across the Gorgol River in the Gorgol Region. The concrete structure was designed to hold back water and create a reservoir that serves the agricultural areas surrounding it.

Construction of the Foum Gleita Dam began in 1982 and it was completed and put into service in 1988. It was built as an arch dam on the Gorgol River to supply irrigation water for up to 4,000 hectares of rice, millet, maize and sorghum. A 2004 stability assessment found 19 safety and stability issues, mainly from deferred maintenance, though the main structure was then stable.

The dam takes its name from Foum Gleita in the Gorgol Region, on the Gorgol River. Its reservoir feeds fields of rice, millet, maize and sorghum, and the drawdown between the wet and dry seasons lets the cultivated area vary from about 1,000 to 4,000 hectares. Rainfall at the site averages about 290 mm a year, concentrated in July and August, when highs reach 40 °C.

The dam is not open to visitors; the photograph shows the reservoir from an earthen road above a rocky bank, with a metal railing in the foreground. The dam lies on the Gorgol River near Foum Gleita in the Gorgol Region. Rainfall averages about 290 mm a year between 2000 and 2009, concentrated in July and August, when maximum temperatures reach 40 °C.

The reservoir created by this arch dam enables irrigation coverage for 4,000 hectares of agricultural land in an area with limited water resources.