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Sedimentary Geology (J.B.), a Canadian NSERC Discovery Grant (P.A.) and the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NE/S015817/1) (S.E.D.) for funding that enabled our collaboration on this

research perspective. We are grateful to K. Cook, P. Best and R. Wilson for discussions. AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Department of Geology, University of Illinois at

Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA Jim Best * Department of Geography and GIS, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA Jim Best * Department of Mechanical Science and

Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA Jim Best * Ven Te Chow Hydrosystems Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, USA Jim Best *

Department of Geography and Environment, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada Peter Ashmore * Department of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton,

Southampton, UK Stephen E. Darby Authors * Jim Best View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Peter Ashmore View author publications You can also

search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Stephen E. Darby View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to

Jim Best. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS The authors declare no competing interests. PEER REVIEW PEER REVIEW INFORMATION _Nature Sustainability_ thanks Douglas Edmonds and Hans

Middelkoop for their contribution to the peer review of this work. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Best, J., Ashmore, P. & Darby,

S.E. Beyond just floodwater. _Nat Sustain_ 5, 811–813 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-022-00929-1 Download citation * Published: 14 July 2022 * Issue Date: October 2022 * DOI:

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