River engineering is the process of planned human intervention in the course, characteristics, or flow of a river with the intention of producing some defined benefit. People have intervened in the natural course and behaviour of rivers since before recorded history—to manage the water resources, to protect against flooding, or to make passage along or across rivers easier. From Roman times, rivers have been used as a source of hydropower. From the late 20th century, river engineering has had environmental concerns broader than immediate human benefit and some river engineering projects have been concerned exclusively with the restoration or protection of natural characteristics and habitats. Hydromodification is a term which encompasses the systematic response to alterations to riverine and non-riverine water bodies such as coastal waters (estuaries and bays) and lakes. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has defined hydromodification as the "alteration of the hydrologic characteristics of coastal and non-coastal waters, which in turn could cause degradation of water resources." River engineering has often resulted in unintended systematic responses. The river engineering discipline now strives to repair hydromodified degradations and account for potential systematic response to planned alterations by considering fluvial geomorphology. Fluvial geomorphology is the study of how rivers change their form over time. Fluvial geomorphology is the cumulation of a number of sciences including open channel hydraulics, sediment transport, hydrology, physical geology, and riparian ecology. River engineering attempts to understand fluvial geomorphology, implement a physical alteration, and maintain public safety.

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