A report on Stream and Channel (geography)

A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river.

A river begins at a source (or more often several sources) which is usually a watershed, drains all the streams in its drainage basin, follows a watercourse, and ends at either at a mouth or mouths which could be a confluence, river delta, etc. The water in a river is usually confined to a channel, made up of a stream bed between banks.

In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrain alongside the bed of a river, creek, or stream.

The bank consists of the sides of the channel, between which the flow is confined.

A stream bed or streambed is the channel bottom of a stream or river, the physical confine of the normal water flow.

As a general rule, the bed is the part of the channel up to the normal water line, and the banks are that part above the normal water line.

Floods can also occur in rivers when the flow rate exceeds the capacity of the river channel, particularly at bends or meanders in the waterway.

Floods occur in all types of river and stream channels, from the smallest ephemeral streams in humid zones to normally-dry channels in arid climates to the world's largest rivers.

A body of water does not have to be still or contained; rivers, streams, canals, and other geographical features where water moves from one place to another are also considered bodies of water.

Channel – the physical confine of a river, slough or ocean strait consisting of a bed and banks. See also stream bed and strait.