By Ruda Murray
“Rivers are the arteries of our planet; they are lifelines in the truest sense.” – Mark Angelo.
We do not think about rivers as often as we should. They flow quietly through landscapes, cities, and histories, supplying water, sustaining ecosystems, and shaping human civilisation. And yet, like so many things we depend on, they are often taken for granted.
World Rivers Day, observed annually on the fourth Sunday of September (on 27 September in 2026), is not simply a celebration of waterways. First established in 2005, following global efforts to raise awareness about freshwater systems, World Rivers Day now spans more than 100 countries. It highlights the critical importance of rivers not only as ecological systems but as foundations of human survival and development. Around two billion people rely directly on rivers for drinking water. Rivers sustain roughly 62% of the world’s irrigated agriculture and support hydropower systems that generate approximately 17% of global electricity.
They are, quite literally, lifelines.
And yet, they are under unprecedented pressure.
Globally, rivers are increasingly burdened by pollution, over-extraction, habitat fragmentation, and climate change. An estimated 70–80% of ocean plastics originate from land-based sources, much of it carried to the sea by rivers.
Similarly, hundreds of tonnes of pesticides enter marine environments each year via river systems, while sediment pollution—driven by land degradation, deforestation, and urbanisation—now affects approximately 40% of the world’s largest rivers.
In many regions, rivers no longer reach the sea.
These pressures are not isolated. They are interconnected.
The crisis is not only ecological but also deeply social and political. Approximately 60% of global freshwater flows occur in transboundary basins shared by multiple countries. Yet cooperative governance arrangements remain limited. At the same time, unregulated activities such as artisanal mining continue to contaminate river systems with mercury and other toxins, affecting hundreds of river basins worldwide.
These challenges are also increasingly recognised at the continental level. Reflecting the urgency of Africa’s growing water crisis, the African Union has declared 2026 the Year of “Assuring Sustainable Water Availability and Safe Sanitation Systems to Achieve the Goals of Agenda 2063.” This theme underscores that water security is not merely an environmental concern but a prerequisite for food security, public health, climate resilience, economic development, and regional integration.
Healthy rivers are indispensable to achieving these objectives. They sustain agriculture, replenish groundwater, support biodiversity, provide drinking water, and underpin the resilience of communities and economies across the continent. Protecting rivers is therefore not simply an environmental imperative, but a prerequisite for achieving both Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Against this continental backdrop, the picture in South Africa is equally concerning. Every day, billions of litres of untreated or inadequately treated sewage enter our rivers and dams, placing immense strain on already vulnerable freshwater systems. These are not abstract statistics; they translate into declining water quality, ecosystem collapse, and growing risks to human health and livelihoods.
This is precisely where universities have an important role to play. At Stellenbosch University (SU), environmental stewardship extends beyond research into practical environmental management. The University continues to collaborate with the Stellenbosch Municipality to protect and restore the natural landscapes that shape our shared environment. Guided by its Environmental Management Plan, SU jointly manages the Krom and Eerste Rivers—ecological corridors that sustain local biodiversity and community well-being.
In response to the challenges rivers face, a growing global movement is rethinking how we understand and protect them. More than 500 initiatives worldwide now explore recognising the rights of nature. In countries such as Ecuador, New Zealand, Colombia, and Bangladesh, rivers have been recognised as legal persons—entities with rights, represented by guardians who can act on their behalf in legal and governance processes.
These developments signal a fundamental shift: from viewing rivers merely as resources to be managed to recognising them as living systems deserving of legal protection in their own right.
This very question—whether recognising rivers as legal persons can improve their protection and enforcement—was the focus of my recently published doctoral study Conferring rights to South Africa’s rivers: Improved protection and enforcement? A comparative law study (Nomos Verlag, 2026). The research demonstrates that where traditional governance frameworks fail, alternative legal approaches, such as rights-based models, may offer new avenues for accountability, representation, and protection.
Importantly, many of these efforts are driven not by governments, but by communities. Where existing systems fall short, people are advocating for legal mechanisms that allow rivers to be represented in decisions that affect their survival.
This raises an important question: what does meaningful protection of rivers actually require?
It requires more than awareness. More than annual observances. It requires governance systems capable of enforcement, legal frameworks that reflect ecological realities, and a societal willingness to rethink our relationship with the natural world.
World Rivers Day is therefore not only about celebrating rivers. It is about confronting the conditions under which they continue to exist.
Take a moment today to stand by a river—if you can. Watch it. Listen to it. Consider what it carries: water, yes, but also history, livelihoods, waste, and consequence.
Because the truth is simple and uncomfortable: the future of rivers is inseparable from our own.
If rivers are the lifelines of our planet, then their degradation is not merely an environmental issue—it is a warning about the future we are creating for ourselves.
*Dr Ruda Murray is a qualified lawyer and a postdoctoral research fellow at the Faculty of Law at Stellenbosch University (SU). She is also a researcher with the Development and Rule of Law Programme at SU.
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