Water flow in rivers and streams is normally confined to channels, which are depressions or scours in the land surface that contain the flow. The floodplain is the land that is covered when the river is in flood. Together the channel and over bank settings comprise the "fluvial environment".
No two rivers are exactly alike.
The energy of flowing river water comes from the force of gravity, which pulls the water downward. The steeper the slope of a river, the faster the river moves and the more energy it has.
The movement of water in a river is called a current. The current is usually strongest near the river’s source.
