Anthropogenic River Flows

Journal article

River flow regimes are increasingly shaped by human decisions operating through direct physical interventions and indirect climatic, economic, and institutional drivers. These influences challenge traditional hydrological baselines and complicate the observation, attribution, and management of river flows. We introduce the concept of Anthropogenic River Flows to define river flow regimes in which magnitude, seasonality, variability, and quality are no longer primarily determined by natural hydro-climatic processes, but instead arise from the persistent interaction of physical alteration of river systems, institutional and socio-technical organisation of water use and allocation, and broader climatic and socio-economic processes operating across scales. Drawing on research on hydrological transformation, resilience and non-stationarity, socio-hydrology, and water-energy-food-ecosystem interdependencies, we show how Anthropogenic River Flows have emerged through the progressive coupling of these domains.

This emergence reflects a shift away from hydro-climatic control alone toward river flow regimes described by biophysical alteration, governance arrangements, and broader development pathways operating across scales. Building on these properties, we identify three priority directions for science: integrating multi-scale and cross-sectoral drivers of flow alteration; recognising rivers as socio-economic systems shaped by institutions and distributional dynamics; and supporting adaptive and robust decision-making frameworks that explicitly address uncertainty. Together, these directions position the Anthropogenic River Flows framework as a basis for aligning scientific analysis and river management practice in the Anthropocene.

Authors: Paltan Lopez, H; Folch, A; Hope, R

• Publication status: Accepted
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: IOP Publishing
• Journal: Environmental Research: Water
• Acceptance date: 2026-07-22
• Language: English
• Keywords: rivers; Anthropocene; science; policy