a composition includes water having a salinity of at least 1 ppt , at least one hydrophilic polymer containing primary and / or secondary amine groups and at least one saccharide containing a reducible function . a method of changing the permeability of a subterranean formation includes the step of injecting into a subterranean formation a composition comprising water , at least one hydrophilic polymer containing at least two groups which are independently the same or different a primary amine group or a secondary amine group and at least one saccharide containing a reducible function .