The contributors attempt to describe Polish rivers and lakes as a nexus of narratives about nature culture, pointing out those elements of the story around which scientific, political, media, social and ecological narratives are created. All of them influence the shape of reflection on the water ecosystem and its function in Polish education. The authors recreate old and contemporary Polish myth-making narratives about Polish rivers and lakes and, by proposing a critical reading of them, try to develop new educational practices that would take into account the 21st century conditions related to the climate catastrophe. The context related to the crisis also opens up thinking about rivers to other categories (cooperation, solidarity, activism) than those that have been applicable in Polish education so far (national symbolism, utility).