On Crete, rivers are rarely constant. Many run only seasonally, fed by karst springs whose water has passed through the same caves where stalagmites record past rainfall. This lab follows water from source to sea, tracing how communities have depended on, managed and feared it, from Minoan water engineering to present-day irrigation, tourism pressure, drought and flash flooding. Hydrologists, archaeologists, artists and local residents ask what a river means to the people who live alongside it. They also ask how its histories and its uncertain futures might be told in ways that support local adaptation. The theme also offers a strong bridge to UK replication, where rivers are at the centre of public debate about water quality and climate resilience.