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Unsustainable River Management Will Prevent the Achievement of the SDGs

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Unsustainable River Management Will Prevent the Achievement of the SDGs

Wen-Li Zhang 1,2 Matthew F. Johnson 3 Faith Ka Shun Chan 4,5 Nai-Cheng Wu 6 Yao-Yang Xu 1 Zhao-Feng Guo 1 Tao Lin 1 Cai Chen 1,*

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1
State Key Laboratory of Regional and Urban Ecology, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Pollution Control for Port-Petrochemical Industry, Ningbo Observation and Research Station, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China
2
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
3
School of Geography, University of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire NG7 2RD, UK
4
School of Geographical Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, Ningbo 315100, China
5
Water@Leeds Research Institute, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
6
School of Geography and Remote Sensing, Zhejiang-Germany Joint Laboratory on Remote Sensing of Coastal Ecosystem, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China
*
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Received: 26 March 2026 Revised: 22 April 2026 Accepted: 26 May 2026 Published: 09 June 2026

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© 2026 The authors. This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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J. Watershed Ecol. 2026, 1(1), 10008; DOI: 10.70322/jwe.2026.10008
ABSTRACT: River ecosystems sustain socio-economic development via the provision of essential ecosystem services, which are of direct relevance to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A paradigm shift in river management over the last 30 years, away from engineered channels that predominantly increase drainage efficiency, towards more restorative and holistic approaches that integrate hydrological, geomorphological, and ecological systems, makes this an ideal time to reflect on both the successes and future trajectories in river ecosystem management. Therefore, we synthesize published research on river ecosystems within the SDG framework using a suite of knowledge visualization tools. Co-occurrence analysis reveals that research in river ecosystem science can be broadly split into three themes: water quality, water flow, and aquatic organisms, and that most published work spans more than one of these themes. Co-word network evolution reveals a significant increase over the past decade in research on climate change, emerging pollutants, and the dynamics of riparian communities. Regions with different levels of socio-economic development exhibit markedly different research priorities. Correlation analysis between article keywords and the SDGs reveals synergies and trade-offs between river ecosystems and the achievement of 130 of the targets. Under the SDGs framework, these findings highlight frontier research priorities and provide a knowledge base to support the sustainable management of river ecosystems in the face of future challenges.
Keywords: River ecosystem; Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); River management; Knowledge visualization; Ecosystem services

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