Recurrent destructive floods along the Brahmaputra river basin are a major challenge for the people of Northeast India. At the same time, riparian communities in the region rely on the beneficial impacts of floods, as well as the resources provided by the river year-round. In other words, these communities manage the difficult task of living with floods, because they can rely on the river system to sustain their livelihoods. Climate change is expected to make this balancing act more challenging, as melting Himalayan glaciers and changes to the summer monsoon lead to worse floods and reduced long-term lean season flows. At the same time, the Brahmaputra river basin is at the center of India's recent hydropower development efforts, and the liberalization of the hydropower sector has led to the prioritization of hydroelectricity production over flood protection. Using the Ranganadi Hydroelectric Project in Arunachal Pradesh as a case study, this research argues that dams in Northeast are increasing the vulnerability of downstream communities to climate change impacts on water resources, making it more difficult for riparian communities downstream to live with floods and sustain their livelihoods in light of these changes. As dams and climate change jointly make the floodplains of Northeast India increasingly uninhabitable and unproductive, many are likely to relocate and shift towards daily wage labor as their primary livelihood activity. Understanding how these forces are pushing people away from the floodplains and towards proletarianization is important for understanding the ongoing neoliberalization of hydrological landscapes in Northeast India.