Geography of Rivers | Fluvial Process: Hydrology of Rivers by Dr Kevin Anderson

The CER Lunchtime Lectures 2026
By Dr. Kevin M. Anderson, Austin Water Center for Environmental Research

The Geography of Rivers
Water writes it way across the surface of the Earth, inscribing deeply or shallowly depending on how resistant the surface is to the flow of water and sediment carried across the landscape. This morphology of the Earth's physical geography is the starting point for geography, but geographers go beyond the physical shapes and shaping of rivers and also study the cultural geography of rivers, where nature and culture flow together.

We will begin 2026 with the physical geography and ecology of rivers as fluvial systems and ecosystems. For summer, we turn inward and explore the mythical, metaphorical waterways that run so deeply through Western and American culture in philosophy, literature, music, and more.
Finally, during the last part of the year, we will turn outward again to examine specific American cultural landscapes of rivers at different spatial and temporal scales, from continental to local, and back out to the fluvial future amid climate change.

Join us in 2026 for a fluvial journey as we explore the Geography of Rivers.

The Physical Geography of Rivers
January - Fluvial Process: Hydrology of Rivers
February - Fluvial Ecology: Life in Flowing Water
March - Riparia: Life at the River Edge
April - Bottomland: Life on the Floodplain

The Meaning of Flowing Water
May - The Round River: Myth, Meaning, and Flowing Water
June - Riverrun: Language, Art, and Waterways
July - Water Music: American River Music
August - Strong Brown God: Poetry of Rivers
The Cultural Geography of American Rivers
September - Rivers of Empire: America Waterways
October - Waters the Land: Texas Rivers
November - Another Colorado: Austin and Our Colorado River
December – The Fluvial Future: American Rivers and Climate Change