This paper is a synthetic overview of some of the threats, risks, and integrated water management elements in freshwater ecosystems. The paper provides some discussion of human needs and water conservation issues related to freshwater systems: (1) introduction and background; (2) water basics and natural cycles; (3) freshwater roles in human cultures and civilizations; (4) water as a biosphere cornerstone; (5) climate as a hydrospheric ‘game changer’ from the perspective of freshwater; (6) human-induced stressors’ effects on freshwater ecosystem changes (pollution, habitat fragmentation, etc.); (7) freshwater ecosystems’ biological resources in the context of unsustainable exploitation/overexploitation; (8) invasive species, parasites, and diseases in freshwater systems; (9) freshwater ecosystems’ vegetation; (10) the relationship between human warfare and water. All of these issues and more create an extremely complex matrix of stressors that plays a driving role in changing freshwater ecosystems both qualitatively and quantitatively, as well as their capacity to offer sustainable products and services to human societies. Only internationally integrated policies, strategies, assessment, monitoring, management, protection, and conservation initiatives can diminish and hopefully stop the long-term deterioration of Earth’s freshwater resources and their associated secondary resources.

The inheritance of historic human-induced disruption and the fierceness of its impact change aquatic ecosystems. This work reviews some of the main stressors on freshwater ecosystems, focusing on their effects, threats, risks, protection, conservation, and management elements. An overview is provided on the water protection linked to freshwater stressors: solar ultraviolet radiation, thermal pollution, nanoparticles, radioactive pollution, salinization, nutrients, sedimentation, drought, extreme floods, fragmentation, pesticides, war and terrorism, algal blooms, invasive aquatic plants, riparian vegetation, and invasive aquatic fish. Altogether, these stressors build an exceptionally composite background of stressors that are continuously changing freshwater ecosystems and diminishing or even destroying their capability to create and maintain ongoing natural healthy products and essential services to humans. Environmental and human civilization sustainability cannot exist without the proper management of freshwater ecosystems all over the planet; this specific management is impossible if the widespread studied stressors are not deeply understood structurally and functionally. Without considering each of these stressors and their synergisms, the Earth’s freshwater is doomed in terms of both quantitative and qualitative aspects.

Background: Climate changes influence the ecosystems and induce potential risks regarding the natural products and services; the human society should predict and adapt in time to these coming global challenges. This research highlights a possible fragmentation of some of the Lower Danube River Basin lentic ecosystems fish populations in a climate change scenario. Results: The studied climate change potential events will affect 18 fish species of economic interest and eight of conservation interest and will induce disorder in some of the Lower Danube specific type of fish communities. The studied area was identified as a significant hot spot regarding the fish fauna ecological status major hazard, in a possible climate change (heating–drought–water depth decreasing) sequence of potential future events. Primarily the southern lakes of the studied area can be negatively influenced by the decreasing of the lakes water quality and quantity, some of the spawning habitats will vanish, some habitats and species will disappear, suspended sediment and nutrient levels in water will increase, eutrophication phenomenon will increase, the hydrological connectivity will diminish, fish associations’ structure will significantly change, etc. Conclusions: The climate changes trend in the Lower Danube Basin will affect the studied lakes ecological state and associated fish communities; mitigating measures are urgently needed. The future potential relative isolation of researched lakes by the surrounding hydrographical nets, for safety reasons of human communities or to convert inland areas should be banned specially for the lakes: Balta Domnească, Razelm, Tăbăcărie, Siutghiol, Taşaul, Tatlageac, Sinoe, Potcoava, Snagov, Comana, Victoria Gheormane, Dunărea Veche, Oltina, and Bugeac. Some of the researched lakes should be managed as wetlands of international importance and as important stepping stone areas for the fish fauna of the Danube Basin: Snagov, Comana, Victoria Gheormane, Dunărea Veche, Oltina, and Bugeac.

In spite of the obvious climate changes effects on the Carpathian Basin hydrographic nets fish fauna, studies on their potential refuge habitats in drought periods are scarce. Multiannual (2016–2021) research of fish in some streams located in the Saxon Villages area during hydrological drought periods identified, mapped, and revealed the refuge aquatic habitats presence, management needs, and importance for fish diversity and abundance for small rivers. The impact of increasing global temperature and other human activities induced hydrologic net and habitats alteration, decreased the refuge habitats needed by freshwater fish, diminished the fish abundance, and influenced the spatial and temporal variation in fish assemblage structure in the studied area. The sites more than one meter in depth in the studied lotic system were inventoried and all 500 m of these lotic systems were also checked to see what species and how many individuals were present, and if there is was difference in their abundance between refuge and non-refuge 500 m sectors. The scarce number of these refuges due to relatively high soil erosion and clogging in those basins and the cumulative effects of other human types of impact induced a high degree of pressure on the fish fauna. Overall, it reduced the role of these lotic systems as a refuge and for reproduction for the fish of downstream Târnava Mare River, into which all of them flow. Management elements were proposed to maintain and improve these refuges’ ecological support capacity.