The paper described the method of historical and cartographic modeling of river systems in the developed regions of Ukraine, the results of studies of multi-building large-scale topographic and thematic maps, aerial photographs and Earth remote sensing data in studies of river systems and scale of development in their transformation and degradation processes. The advantages of the integrated use of different sources of information when assessing the status and characteristics of river systems, determining the direction and magnitude of the transformation processes.
Keywords: river systems, basin systems, retrospective and forecast potential of maps.