Rivers and lakes continuously evolve with intertwined feedback among hydrodynamics, sediment transport, and geomorphology. Human activities – including alluvial mining, dam construction, and installation of river training structures (e.g., levees, weirs, or spur dikes) – have significantly disrupted the morphodynamic processes. Such interventions alter flow pathways, channel-floodplain connectivity, water quality, substrate composition, and sediment transport in fluvio-lacustrine environments. This session aims to discuss new discoveries in quantifying how alluvial mining or engineered modifications in rivers and lakes affect morphodynamic processes, and what the associated challenges are. We invite contributions from geomorphologists, civil engineers, hydrologists, and environmental scientists highlighting recent methodological advances in laboratory experiments, field measurements, analytical models, numerical simulations, data-driven approaches, and remote sensing.