This open access book brings together diverse yet deeply interconnected perspectives on rivers, lakes, and water systems to address one of the most pressing challenges of our time: how societies can protect, restore, and govern water resources in an era of climate change, rapid development, and technological transformation. Drawing on experiences from China, other countries in East Asia, and global case studies, the book offers an integrated framework that bridges policy, ethics, science, engineering, risk analysis, and digital innovation.

Across its chapters, the book shares a unifying concern: the growing tension between human activity and natural water systems. Rivers and lakes are not only physical infrastructures that deliver water, manage floods, and support economies; they are living systems with ecological, cultural, and ethical significance. The chapters collectively argue that sustainable water futures require moving beyond fragmented, sector-based management toward holistic approaches that recognize water as an interconnected socio-ecological system.

Several contributions highlight China’s evolving practices in river and lake governance, including institutional innovations such as river and lake chief systems, basin-scale strategies, rigid water-resource constraints, and large-scale ecological restoration. These experiences demonstrate how governance mechanisms, law, engineering, and ecological protection can be aligned to produce tangible improvements in river health while supporting social and economic development. The Yellow River case, in particular, illustrates how long-term basin management can integrate flood control, sediment regulation, water efficiency, and ecosystem protection to achieve the vision of a “river of happiness” that benefits people and nature alike.

By combining theory, practice, and forward-looking insights, the book offers valuable guidance for policymakers, practitioners, scholars, and students seeking sustainable pathways for river and lake management worldwide.

·Prof. Asit K. Biswas is Director, Water Management International Pvt Ltd, Singapore; Distinguished Visiting Professor, University of Glasgow, UK, and Chief Executive, Third World Centre for Water Management, Mexico. Prof Biswas is universally acknowledged as one of the world’s leading authorities on water, food, environment and development-related issues. He has a very distinguished career as an academic; senior public official in Canada; advisor and confidant to Presidents, Prime Ministers and Ministers in 23 countries, six Heads of United Nations Agencies, two Secretaries-General of OECD, several Heads of bilateral aid agencies, and four CEOs or Chairmen of MNCs in Fortune 500 list.

·Dr. Jing Peng, Professor and former President of the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research (IWHR). Dr. Peng is a Fellow of the International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research (IAHR) and Director General of its China Chapter. She earned her B.S. in Hydraulic Machinery and M.S. in Hydraulics and River Dynamics from Tsinghua University, and her Ph.D. in River and Basin Environment from the University of Tokyo. Her research interests encompass hydraulic engineering, river pollution control, water environment restoration, water-related disaster risk management, and river ethics and applications.

·Dr Cecilia Tortajada is Honorary Professor at School of Social and Environmental Sustainability, University of Glasgow, UK; Adjunct Senior Fellow, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore; Visiting Professor, School of Water and Environment, Chang’an University, Xi’an, China; and Visiting Research Professor and member of the Advisory Board ofTransboundary Rivers, Ecologies and Development Studies (TREADS), Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi, India. She has more than 25 years of experience in research, teaching, and consultancy, with a focus on water resources management and its policy, social, environmental, and political dimensions. Her current work is on impacts of global changes on water, food and environmental security.