Research of changes in hydrological processes and society is main task for 2013-2022, proposed by IAHS. Moreover the analysis of river basins as socio-ecological systems is a key approach at the modern stage. The aim of this work is to adopt an assessment of large river basins of the Russian Arctic as a socio-ecological systems. This type of assessment is important for improving the quality of long-term water use forecasts and for supporting the sustainable development of society in a changing environment. This report briefly describes the existing modern approaches to the river assessment, including those used for the state monitoring network. The applicability of these assessments to river basins in the Russian Arctic is evaluated. A scheme is developed that describes how the social and ecological components of Arctic river ecosystems can be included in the assessment. This assessment is limited to the Nadym, Pur and Taz river basins because of the fact that this region is widely developed due to the oil and gas industry, which has an impact on the socio-ecological system. The assessment includes the following parameters: water quality, environmental sustainability, ecological diversity, ecological variability, tight feedback, social capital and ecosystem services. A scoring method was used from 1 to 5 for each of the parameters. As a result, limitations and uncertainties associated with conducting such assessments for poorly studied Arctic rivers are shown. It is noted that rivers under study are characterized by different stability due to differences in economic development despite the similar natural conditions.