In this organized oral session, rising and established aquatic biologists and river conservationists will assemble to discuss factors that contribute to maintenance of lateral and longitudinal connectivity in the face of intense pressure to impede connectivity beyond limits needed to maintain biodiversity in lotic systems. Session participants from many latitudes will explore how recent advances in basic ecological research can offer solutions to key technical sticking points in determining requirements for maintaining lateral connectivity and predicting and mediating effects of longitudinal connectivity lost to dams. Participants will also describe how the need for improved technical solutions has yielded new avenues of inquiry in basic ecology research. Specific topics will include discharge magnitude and pulse periodicity to maintain lateral connectivity, design recommendations to minimize losses in longitudinal connectivity due to hydrologic dam construction, potential for mitigation of losses to longitudinal connectivity, and the fundamental similarities and differences in the response of temperate versus tropical rivers to impeded lateral and longitudinal connectivity.