Anthropogenic river flows

Rivers are increasingly shaped by human decisions, not only through direct interventions such as damming, abstraction, and pollution, but also via indirect drivers like climate change, land-use transformation, and global trade. These influences challenge traditional hydrological baselines and complicate the measurement, attribution, and management of river flows. We introduce the concept of Anthropogenic River Flows to capture how local and global human pressures interact to produce dynamic, uncertain, and politically embedded river regimes. We examine how this concept has evolved over time, building on decades of research on hydrological transformation, resilience, socio-ecological systems, and the emergence of the water-energy-food-ecosystems nexus. While earlier paradigms focused on local engineering interventions or ecological baselines, we show that Anthropogenic River Flows emerge from a current wide set of socio-environmental drivers and feedback that challenge traditional hydrological framings In this context of Anthropogenic River Flows, we propose three challenges and contributions for science: i) developing integrated approaches that account for multi-scale and cross-sectoral drivers of flow alteration; ii) understanding rivers as socio-economic systems shaped by institutions, power relations, and informal uses; and iii) designing adaptive governance frameworks that embrace uncertainty, support imperfect decisions, and align with real-world policy timelines. Reframing river flows through the lens of the Anthropocene can strengthen strategies for sustainable water security in a rapidly changing and interconnected world.