Citation: de Jong, L.; Veldwisch, G.J.; Melsen, L.A.; Boelens, R. Making Rivers, Producing Futures: The Rise of an Eco-Modern River Imaginary in Dutch Climate Change Adaptation. Water 2024, 16, 598. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/w16040598 Academic Editor: Aristotelis Mantoglou Received: 10 January 2024 Revised: 6 February 2024 Accepted: 15 February 2024 Published: 18 February 2024 Copyright: © 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). water Article Making Rivers, Producing Futures: The Rise of an Eco-Modern River Imaginary in Dutch Climate Change Adaptation Lotte de Jong 1,2, *, Gert Jan Veldwisch 2 , Lieke Anna Melsen 3 and Rutgerd Boelens 2,4,5,6, * 1 Spatial Transformations-Climate Adaptation Group, Research Centre for Built Environment Noorder Ruimte, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Zernikeplein 11, 9747 AS Groningen, The Netherlands 2 Water Resources Management Group, Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 3a, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands; gertjan.veldwisch@wur.nl 3 Hydrology and Environmental Hydraulics Group, Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 3a, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands; lieke.melsen@wur.nl 4 CEDLA Centre for Latin American Research and Documentation, University of Amsterdam, Roetersstraat 33, 1018 WB Amsterdam, The Netherlands 5 Department of Social Sciences, Pontific Catholic University of Peru,Av. Universitaria 1801, Lima 15088, Peru 6 Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Central University of Ecuador, Ciudadela Universitaria, Av. América, Quito 170179, Ecuador * Correspondence: c.e.de.jong@pl.hanze.nl (L.d.J.); rutgerd.boelens@wur.nl (R.B.) Abstract: In the field of climate change adaptation, the future matters. River futures influence the way adaptation projects are implemented in rivers. In this paper, we challenge the ways in which dominant paradigms and expert claims monopolise the truth concerning policies and designs of river futures, thereby sidelining and delegitimising alternative river futures. So far, limited work has been performed on the power of river futures in the context of climate change adaptation. We conceptualised the power of river futures through river imaginaries, i.e., collectively performed and publicly envisioned reproductions of riverine socionatures mobilised through truth claims of social life and order. Using the Border Meuse project as a case study, a climate change adaptation project in a stretch of the river Meuse in the south of the Netherlands, and a proclaimed success story of climate adaptation in Dutch water management, we elucidated how three river imaginaries (a modern river imaginary, a market-driven imaginary, and an eco-centric river imaginary) merged into an eco-modern river imaginary. Importantly, not only did the river futures merge, but their aligned truth regimes also merged. Thus, we argue that George Orwell’s famous quote, “who controls the past, controls the future: who controls the present, controls the past” can be extended to “who controls the future, controls how we see and act in the present, and how we rediscover the past”. Keywords: climate change adaptation; futures; river imaginary; water management; Border Meuse project 1. Introduction In the field of climate change adaptation, the future matters [1,2]. Mills-Novoa et al. [3] showed that, through participatory practices, certain futures that are deemed desirable by ruling parties are linked to required actions in the current era by those who are to follow. These attitudes, behaviours, and actions are internalised and normalised as the best way to adapt to climate change. Future climate change projections, therefore, influence the way adaptation projects are developed. Muiderman et al. [4] formulate this practice as a strong anticipatory governance paradigm, in which the use and power of future projections are central. In this context, the scientific adaptation community focuses on concepts like resilience, vulnerability, and adaptive capacity and mitigation, with a recent interest in green infrastructure or ‘nature-based solutions’ that are all proposed as solutions to climate change impacts [5]. In river research, many studies focus on future increases in floods and Water 2024, 16, 598. https://doi.org/10.3390/w16040598 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/water