U članku su izneseni principi i smjerovi razvoja hidrologije u 21. stoljeću. Tretirana je problematika i uloga ekohidrologije kao i vodnog otiska te vrijednosti i cijene vode.  Osobita pažnja je usmjerena na nove objašnjavanje nove interdisciplinarne znanosti nazvane socio-hidrologija. Složene probleme koji se javljaju u odnosu čovjeka i vode potrebno je tretirati  mnogo šire od onoga kako je to uobičajeno u klasičnoj hidrologiji. Interakcija čovjeka i vode složena je dinamična i podložna naglim promjenama uvjetovanim prvenstveno raspoloživošću vode u prostoru i vremenu te potrebama ljudi i prirode za istom. U sebi nosi nedokučiv broj posljedica na sve procese na Zemlji (društvene, ekološke, biološke itd.). O odnosu čovjeka i vode izravno zavisi ispunjavanje planetarnih ciljeva održivog razvoja. Zbog toga se taj odnos ne smije tretirati isključivo ili dominantno s hidrološkog stanovišta. Kao pokušaj nalaženja odgovora na ovaj planetarni izazov pred tridesetak godina pojavile su se ekohidrologija i hidrobiologija te koncept vodenog otiska. Pojam socio-hidrologije uveli su  Murugesu Sivapalan, Hubert Savenije i Günter Blöschl u članku objavljenom 2012. godine u prestižnom znanstvenom časopisu Hydrological Processes. U radu su izneseni osnovni principi i zadaci socio-hidrologije. Naglašeno je da je ona u ranoj fazi razvoja te da se tek mora formirati i stvoriti uvjete za postizanje njenog osnovnog cilja, a taj je pružanje podrške održivom razvoju.. The paper presents the principles and directions of hydrology development in the 21st century. It addresses the issues and role of ecohydrology and water footprint, value and price. Special attention is paid to explaining the new interdisciplinary science called sociohydrology. Complex problems that occur in the relationship between man and water should be treated much more broadly than is usual in traditional hydrology. The interaction between man and water is complex, dynamic and subject to sudden changes caused primarily by water availability in space and time as well as water needs of people and nature. It contains an unfathomable number of consequences for all processes on earth (social, ecological, biological, etc.). The relationship between man and water directly affects the fulfilment of planetary sustainable development objective. For this reason, this relationship cannot be treated exclusively or predominantly from the hydrological standpoint. As an attempt to find the answer to this planetary challenge, ecohydrology, hydrobiology and the concept of water footprint appeared about thirty years ago. The term sociohydrology was introduced by Murugesu Sivapalan, Hubert Savenije and Günter Blöschl in an article published in 2012 in the prestigious scientific magazine Hydrological Processes. This paper presents the basic principles and tasks of sociohydrology, emphasizing  that it is in the early development phase and has yet to form and create conditions for its primary objective – providing support to sustainable development.