Analizom višegodišnjih interdisciplinarnih terenskih istraživanja, te bilježenjem učinaka infrastrukturnih zahvata u prirodni okoliš Drežnice, članak doprinosi složenijem razumijevanju historijskih, društvenih i ekonomskih procesa suodnosa ljudi i prirodnog okoliša, kao ključnih odrednica moderniteta. Pitanje tko, kakvom tehnologijom i s kojim obećanjima upravlja krškim krajolikom, te u kojim se okolnostima i u čijem interesu javlja potreba njegove zaštite, sagledava se u duljem povijesnom trajanju s fokusom na promjene upravljanja Drežničkim poljem. Oslanjajući se na objavljene i arhivske izvore, članak postavlja širi ekohistorijski okvir za analizu suvremenog antropogenog utjecaja na Drežničko polje, na primjeru aktualnog projekta njegove retencije. Učinci hidroinžinjerskih zahvata na lokalnu zajednicu sagledavaju se kroz analitičku prizmu procesualne antropologije infrastrukture, a temelje na intervjuima s članovima lokalne zajednice i ekoloških udruga te na analizi birokratskog diskursa studija na okoliš. This article presents an analysis of the effects of infrastructural interventions in the natural environment of Drežnica, based on many years of field research and an interdisciplinary approach to methodology. In this way, it contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the historical, social, and economic elements of the relationship between humans and the natural environment, as key notions of modernity. Several questions are addressed: who manages the karst landscape, using which technology, promising which results, under which circumstances, and whose interest it is to protect the landscape. These questions are considered from a longer historical perspective, with a focus on changes in the management model of Drežničko polje. Relying on published and archival sources, the article sets a broader eco-historical framework for the analysis of the contemporary anthropogenic impact on Drežničko polje, using the example of the current project of its retention. The effects of hydro-engineering operations on the local community are viewed through the analytical prism of processual anthropology of infrastructure, based on the analysis of the bureaucratic discourse of environmental policy studies and interviews with members of the local community and environmental organizations.