This is a WikiProject, an area for focused collaboration among Wikipedians. New participants are welcome; please feel free to participate! Guide to WikiProjects Directory of WikiProjects Portal:Geography

Shortcuts WP:RIVER WP:RIVERS

WikiProject Rivers

Shortcuts	WP:RIVER, WP:RIVERS
Category	WikiProject Rivers
Portal	Rivers
Wikimedia Commons	Rivers
Parent project(s)	Geography
Project banner template	((WikiProject Rivers))
Userboxes	((User WP Rivers)) ((User WikiProject Rivers))
Assessment	Wikipedia:WikiProject_Rivers/Assessment
Popular pages	WikiProject Rivers/Popular pages

A few Wikipedians have gotten together to make some suggestions about how we might organize data in articles about rivers. These are only suggestions, things to give you focus and to get you going, and you shouldn't feel obligated in the least to follow them. But if you don't know what to write or where to begin, following the guidelines below may be helpful. Mainly, we just want you to write articles!

River articles by quality and importance
Quality	Importance
	Top	High	Mid	Low	NA	???	Total
FA		2	7	11			20
FL			1	7			8
GA		6	18	83			107
B	10	29	71	185		41	336
C	14	68	233	1,232		102	1,649
Start	3	110	691	6,832		263	7,899
Stub		32	647	25,701	1	719	27,100
List	1	193	251	170	7	8	630
Category					4,269		4,269
Disambig				2	276		278
File					44		44
Portal					58		58
Project					11		11
Template			1	1	2,572		2,574
NA		2	11	7,645	762		8,420
Other				1	15		16
Assessed	28	442	1,931	41,870	8,015	1,133	53,419
Unassessed				3		179	182
Total	28	442	1,931	41,873	8,015	1,312	53,601
WikiWork factors (?)		ω = 209,907			Ω = 5.66

This WikiProject Rivers aims primarily to describe the Earth's rivers in a consistent and complete fashion. Waterfalls on rivers are also within the scope of this project.

Hierarchy definition

Classification standards for river articles uses the standard classifications and definitions, including

• Stub
• Start
• C
• B
• A
• Good Article (GA)
• List
• Featured List (FL)

Pages that are Category, Disambig, File, Portal, Project, and Template should be classified as such. Pages that are Redirects should be classified NA.

The classification, Class=, is set in the WikiProject Rivers template. See this proposal on dividing a topic into a hierarchy.

The Importance, Importance=, is set in the WikiProject Rivers template to one of the following: Top, High, Mid, Low, NA. Articles without importance show an importance of ???.

• Improve the quality of river articles, striving for featured articles (currently 20 articles), featured lists (currently 8 articles), and Rivers recognized content.
• Improve articles by reviewing articles that have been nominated for deletion, merging, splitting or renaming (see #Article alerts).
• Improve articles by reviewing and making changes to articles in the #Cleanup listing
• Update river articles that need attention, maps, images, infoboxes, etc. Maintenance of river articles includes adding infoboxes, adding importance, adding maps, adding images, and assessing quality
  • Articles needing Infobox rivers (needs-infobox=Yes): Category:River articles needing infoboxes (8,480 articles)
  • Unassessed River Articles (class=): Category:Unassessed River articles (0 articles)
  • Unknown Importance River Articles (importance=): Category:Unknown-importance River articles (1,312)
  • Needs maps (mapneeded=Yes): Category:River articles needing maps (3,275)
  • Needs attention (attention=Yes): Category:River articles needing attention (49)

Parentage

The parent of this WikiProject is the WikiProject Geography.

Descendant WikiProjects and task forces

• Waterfalls task force formerly WikiProject Waterfalls focused on Waterfalls
• Wikipedia:WikiProject River Thames

Similar WikiProjects

For naming in geography:

• WikiProject Country subdivisions#Naming

Projects covering other geographical features:

• WikiProject Glaciers
• WikiProject Lakes
• WikiProject Mountains
• WikiProject UK Waterways
• WikiProject Ecoregions

Related topics:

• WikiProject Water

Member userboxes

Code	Result
((Template:User WP Rivers))	This user actively participates in WikiProject Rivers.	Usage
((Template:User WikiProject Rivers))	This user is a participant in WikiProject Rivers.	Usage

Active members

Please feel free to add yourself here in alphabetical order, and to indicate any areas of particular interest.

1. Advanstra (talk · contribs)
2. Afil (talk · contribs)
3. Anupamdutta73 (talk · contribs)
4. ARoseWolf - Rivers in Alaska
5. Andy Mabbett = Pigsonthewing (talk · contribs)
6. Arbustum (talk · contribs) – focusing on rivers in Poland, eg Grajcarek
7. Are1718 (talk · contribs) – Rivers in Bucks County, Pennsylvania
8. Atlantic306 (talk · contribs) – Rivers in Scotland
9. Awickert (talk · contribs) – river morphology
10. Bbossoxx (talk · contribs) – Rivers in Burundi, Tanzania, Kenya and Zambia
11. Bill McKenna (talk · contribs)
12. Callanecc (talk · contribs)
13. Chongkian (talk · contribs) - Rivers in Taiwan
14. CJK09 (talk · contribs) - North America, especially the western US, especially California, especially the Sierra Nevada
15. Daniel Case (talk · contribs)
16. Darwinek (talk · contribs)
17. Dav4is (talk · contribs) – Categories
18. DB1729 (talk · contribs) – Canadian rivers
19. Dentren (talk · contribs)
20. Dicklyon (talk · contribs) – Creeks in the San Francisco Bay area, and aerial views of rivers, creeks, reservoirs, etc.
21. Epipelagic (talk · contribs) – estuarine ecosystems
22. Finetooth (talk · contribs)
23. G. Moore (talk · contribs) – Minnesota Rivers
24. Geopersona (talk · contribs) – UK rivers
25. Gerrit (talk · contribs)
26. Gilliam (talk · contribs) – writing articles about small US streams (creeks) and how they were so named.
27. Gjs238 (talk · contribs)
28. Gnangbade (talk · contribs) – African rivers
29. ICTMontreal (talk · contribs) – Bouchard Creek on the Island of Montreal
30. Jokulhlaup (talk · contribs) – UK rivers
31. Juliancolton (talk · contribs)
32. Kierano (talk · contribs)
33. Kmusser (talk · contribs) – cartography
34. Kuru (talk · contribs) – Texas rivers
35. LaurentianShield (talk · contribs) – northern Wisconsin rivers and streams, Sierra Nevada (US) foothills streams
36. Llywrch (talk · contribs)
37. Lotheric (talk · contribs)
38. Markussep (talk · contribs) – geography of Europe
39. Masterhatch (talk · contribs) — Rivers of Western Canada, mostly Saskatchewan
40. Мастер теней (talk · contribs) – world. Coordinates and logic. Project Water Bodies (Водные объекты) in Ruwiki.
41. MaynardClark (talk · contribs)
42. Mike Cline (talk · contribs) – river fisheries
43. Murgatroyd49 (talk · contribs) - UK rivers and canals
44. NomzEditingWikis (talk · contribs) - US stub-level rivers and lakes
45. Peteforsyth (talk · contribs) – Columbia River
46. Pfly (talk · contribs)
47. PimRijkee (talk · contribs)
48. PointsofNoReturn (talk · contribs) – Hudson River
49. Rehman (talk · contribs) – templates, rivers in Sri Lanka
50. Riverhugger (talk · contribs) – translation from Chinese and Russian sources
51. Rmhermen (talk · contribs)
52. Ruhrfisch (talk · contribs)
53. Ryboy42 (talk · contribs) – Editing Dead Links For Mostly American Rivers, but I might sneak in some other continents (2022 Edit: I'll do what I can)
54. SaltedSturgeon (talk · contribs) – rivers of Canada, mostly focusing on Albertan rivers and creeks, of which there are many.
55. Santasa99 (talk · contribs) – all articles "karst" & "hydro", rivers in Bosnia & Dinarides, created Neretva & many other in Dinarides, trout & fish sp.
56. Schmiebel (talk · contribs) - California streams and rivers, their ecology, effects of beaver on, salmonids, or any stream/river I visit
57. Shannon1 (talk · contribs) – Western United States and elsewhere
58. Spencer (talk · contribs)
59. Stan Shebs (talk · contribs)
60. Starkenborgher (talk · contribs) - South Indian rivers, in Tamil Nadu and Kerala
61. The Bushranger (talk · contribs)
62. Thewellman (talk · contribs) – navigable rivers and estuaries; flow variation; aquatic biochemistry; riparian groundwater
63. TimK MSI (talk · contribs)
64. TomCat4680 (talk · contribs)
65. Triglav (talk · contribs)
66. Veg Mapper (talk · contribs) – Mid-Atlantic United States Rivers, midwest rivers, and adding infoboxes to those articles that do not have them
67. VerruckteDan (talk · contribs)
68. Wiki tamil 100 (talk · contribs)
69. Wolfgang8741 (talk · contribs) – Infoboxes & Wikidata, QA, consistency
70. Zack3142 (talk · contribs) – Prefer Indian Rivers
71. ZH8000 (talk · contribs) – European and Swiss rivers

Inactive members

This is a list of people who are members of the project but haven't edited Wikipedia for a year. If you find your name on this list, feel free to move it back to the list of active participants when you return to editing.

River articles may be named "X", "X River", or "River X", depending on location and most common usage. "River X" is used for many (but not all) rivers in the UK and Ireland. "X River" is the norm in the Americas. "X river" (i.e. non-capitalized "river") is not recommended. When common usage does not include the word "River", but disambiguation is required (e.g. the river Inn in central Europe), parenthetical, non-capitalized "river" should be used: Inn (river). In other words neither "river" (without parentheses) nor "River" should be used to disambiguate articles. Country-specific exceptions to this rule should be discussed within WikiProject Rivers and/or that country's WikiProject.

If different rivers with the same name exist, disambiguate with parentheses using either the parent river, country or (if both in the same country) the largest geographical entity that distinguishes them (e.g. the Vils (Danube), Vils (Naab) and Vils (Lech); the Turiec (Váh) and Turiec (Sajó); and the Colorado River (Texas), Colorado River (Potosi), Colorado River (Costa Rica), etc.) The exception is UK rivers - see below.

Multiple rivers with the same name

Because there are many rivers in the world with the same name (e.g. the Columbia River has two tributaries named the Salmon River, another flows into the lower Fraser River and one more has been identified in Nova Scotia), not all of which are recent namings in the Americas (e.g. there are four rivers in England called River Avon), the following method of disambiguation is used:

• The primary topic can stay at the undisambiguated title while lesser-known ones add a qualifier, e.g., Jordan River (in the Middle East), Jordan River (disambiguation), Jordan River (Utah)
• In practice, most rivers needing disambiguation have been identified by an appropriate political entity, e.g., Colorado River and Colorado River (Texas).
  • Always use parentheses for the disambiguating term for U.S., New Zealand, Australian and continental European rivers, not a comma, e.g., Indian River (Michigan), not Indian River, Michigan, which is actually a town.
  • British rivers have used the "River, Place" format, e.g., River Wye, Derbyshire as stated in the UK Waterways Writing Guide.
• A river can be identified uniquely as a tributary of another river, e.g., Rio Puerco (Rio Grande tributary).
• If a river with an ambiguous name empties directly into a lake or definable sea, then the name of that body of water could follow in parentheses, e.g., Churchill River (Hudson Bay).

Rivers with multiple names

Some rivers have names with multiple spellings which vary with the different countries the rivers pass through. An example would be the Cunene River in Angola, which is known as the Kunene River in Namibia. Occasionally, a river can have several genuinely distinct names. For example, the Cuando River not only has the variant spelling Kwando, it's also called the Linyanti and the Chobe. The following rules are suggested for choosing a primary name for such a river:

• If the river is particularly famous or most commonly mentioned under one name, then choose that name.
• If the section of the river that uses a particular name is much longer than other sections, then use that as the name.
• If everything else is equal, then choose the name for the section of the river closest to the river's mouth, since generally that is where the river is widest.

It is important that all the alternate names redirect to the name chosen for the article title. This helps prevent the creation of duplicate articles.

Lead

The lead section should be a self-contained description including a summary of the most important things that are described in the article. The name(s) – both historic and current – should be in bold. State the location (continent/countries/seaboards), and notable facts about the river, such as longest, second longest, main waterway of a country, etc. For more information see Wikipedia:Lead.

History

Describe what is known about the different inhabitants along the river, along with a description of the scientific exploration expeditions/efforts. Typically, start from indigenous people and work up from there.

Course

The narrative description of the course should proceed from the main headwater of the river downstream to its mouth, noting direction, size, major tributaries, human settlements, waterfalls, dams, and so forth. This should be at least a paragraph, may be several paragraphs for long rivers. This section can include numerical data on length, volume, drainage basin, etc.

Info on major water basins can be found at Watersheds of the world : ecological value and vulnerability. World Resources Institute. 1998. ISBN 1-56973-254-X. LCCN 98-85401. WRI 2900., updated in 2003 as ISBN 1-56973-548-4.

For the largest one or two tributaries of the river, a short description of them should be added (perhaps under a "Tributaries" subsection) with "main" links.

Source

When the source of the river is complex, such as a network of smaller streams, or a spring and cave system, consider if the source would be better described in its own section or sub-section separately from the course section. In simpler cases, such as when a river merely originates from a lake, discuss in the course section.

Watershed

Include information about the geography and distribution of drainage basins, the location of mountain ranges, valleys, major cities, etc. Mention climate of the different areas of the watershed, and information about water quality, etc.

River modifications

In this section describe the dams, diversion canals, bridges and culverts, roads, and other engineering projects associated with or with a big impact on the river.

Natural history

Mention distinctive plants and animals associated with any part of the river. This section may also be titled Wildlife or Biology.

Geology

The evolution of some rivers has been well explored (e.g., the Missoula Floods and their effect on the Columbia River). Such information should be placed here, with a suitable discussion of all POVs when possible.

Economy

A countless number of rivers have been used as means to transport people, goods, etc., and are still used so today. All such information should be described here. Stylistically, this can be a good segue from history, connecting past uses of the river to present-day uses.

Lists

• List the tributaries, starting from the mouth and going upstream. Add important subtributaries in sublists. Major tributaries should be links, if there is a reasonable chance of article content, minor tributaries should be just names.
• List the cities and towns along the river, also in upstream order.
• List dams, locks, waterfalls, rapids, if there are more than a couple and/or they're not mentioned in the lead or course narrative.
• List crossings of the river.

References and external links

Preferably refer to history, ecology, public policy, books, websites, etc.

Images

There should be at least one picture, preferably a typical view. Important rivers should have additional pictures illustrating their notable features. Maps of the river's course and of its watershed are highly desirable.

Map

Every river article should include a map. Wikipedia:WikiProject Maps gives advice on the conventions to be used. The map should be included in the Maps section of the ((Infobox river)) template. Pushpin maps showing the location of the mouth of the river should be included if there is no tailored map for the specific river. Route maps are optional, a sample can be seen at ((River Medway map)).

Geographical coordinates

Every river article should include geographical coordinates for at least the mouth or mouth and source of the river. Wikipedia:WikiProject Geographical coordinates/Linear gives advice on the positioning of these coordinates. The coordinates of the source and mouth are included in the Infobox river template:

• Mouth: |mouth_coordinates=((coord|lat|long|type:river|display=inline))
• Source: |source1_coordinates = ((coord|lat|long|type:river|display=it))

Other significant points may be included inline in the text using ((coord|lat|long|display=inline)).

The draft proposals for features that may be handled by this project suggest:

Indexing

Every river article should be indexed in lists of rivers, along with its major tributaries.

Categories

• Every article should have a category. If a river is restricted to one country, list it in Category:Rivers of country, e.g. Category:Rivers of Germany. If it runs through several countries, list it in each country category.
• A country-level category may be subdivided by region, province, department, state etc. (e.g. Category:Rivers of California.)
• These may in turn be subdivided, e.g. Category:Rivers of Lake County, California
• When a river is placed in a subdivision category(s) it may or may not be also placed in the parent category. This should be done consistently, so a given parent category is either empty or holds a complete list of rivers.
• ((Parent cat)) may be added to the head of the parent category to provide links to reports that list all rivers in the child category, and that report any discrepancies.
• Rivers may be categorized by other characteristics, e.g.
  • Category:Braided rivers in France
  • Category:Subterranean rivers of the United States
  • Category:Tributaries of the Rhine

A detailed list of recognized content is available at Rivers recognized content.

Article alerts

Articles for deletion

• 31 Mar 2024 – Som River (talk · edit · hist) was AfDed by Sohom Datta (t · c); see discussion (1 participant; relisted)
• 31 Mar 2024 – Sipu River (talk · edit · hist) was AfDed by Sohom Datta (t · c); see discussion (1 participant; relisted)
• 31 Mar 2024 – Anas River, India (talk · edit · hist) AfDed by Sohom Datta (t · c) was closed as delete by Explicit (t · c) on 13 Apr 2024; see discussion (3 participants; relisted)

Proposed deletions

• 11 Apr 2024 – Zapotillo River (talk · edit · hist) was PRODed by Mheberger (t · c): Not clear this river exists, or if it does, it is a very small stream that does not appear on any maps.

Redirects for discussion

• 03 Apr 2024 – Mequéns River (Guaporé River tributary) (talk · edit · hist) →Guaporé River RfDed by Shhhnotsoloud (t · c) was closed; see discussion
• 03 Apr 2024 – Mequéns River (São João River tributary) (talk · edit · hist) →Guaporé River RfDed by Shhhnotsoloud (t · c) was closed; see discussion
• 03 Apr 2024 – São João River (Verde River tributary) (talk · edit · hist) →Guaporé River RfDed by Shhhnotsoloud (t · c) was closed; see discussion
• 03 Apr 2024 – Escondido River (Brazil) (talk · edit · hist) →Guaporé River RfDed by Shhhnotsoloud (t · c) was closed; see discussion
• 03 Apr 2024 – Cantarinho River (talk · edit · hist) →Guaporé River RfDed by Shhhnotsoloud (t · c) was closed; see discussion

Good article nominees

• 11 Mar 2024 – Kako River (Japan) (talk · edit · hist) was GA nominated by Tosatur (t · c); start discussion
• 05 Mar 2024 – Grande Ronde River (talk · edit · hist) was GA nominated by Shannon1 (t · c); start discussion

Requested moves

• 02 Apr 2024 – Afon Tanat (talk · edit · hist) is requested to be moved to River Tanat by DankJae (t · c); see discussion

Articles to be merged

• 08 Apr 2024 – Cachoeira River (Bay Antonina) (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to Cachoeira River (Paraná) by Bri (t · c); see discussion
• 15 Feb 2024 – Upper Suriname River (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to Suriname River by P199 (t · c); see discussion

Articles to be split

• 13 Sep 2023 – Mullins River (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by 67.70.25.175 (t · c); see discussion
• 01 Jan 2022 – Paluxy River (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by FunkMonk (t · c); see discussion

Articles for creation

• 29 Mar 2024 – Draft:Redwood Creek (Contra Costa County) (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by Peter J. Caprio (t · c)
• 23 Mar 2024 – Draft:Tulmullah Nallah (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by Saqi9541 (t · c)
• 19 Feb 2024 – Draft:Kaiser Creek (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by Peter J. Caprio (t · c)
• 14 Feb 2024 – Draft:Sukha Volnovakha (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by 176.36.116.31 (t · c)
• undated – Draft:Wash My Soul In The River's Flow (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC

Lists

• Lists of rivers
• List of rivers by average discharge
• List of rivers by continent
• Category:Lists of rivers by country
• List of rivers by length
• List of river name etymologies
• List of drainage basins by area

Cleanup listing

A range of tasks are available at Cleanup listing.

A list of articles needing cleanup associated with this project is available. See also the tool's wiki page and the index of WikiProjects.

Subpages

• List of all subpages of this page

Project banner

The ((River|class=|importance=|attention=|mapneeded=|needs-infobox=)) template banner is available to add to the talk pages of river articles and gives:

Rivers NA‑class

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Rivers, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Rivers on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.RiversWikipedia:WikiProject RiversTemplate:WikiProject RiversRiver articles NA This article has been rated as NA-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale. More information: /  This article has been marked as needing immediate attention. This article has been marked as needing an infobox. This article needs a map.

• |mapneeded=yes will add the article's talk page to Category:River articles needing maps

Assessment

An article can be rated by quality and importance; for example, using ((WikiProject Rivers|class=Stub|importance=Low)). For detailed instructions on quality grading, see: WikiProject Rivers/Assessment. There are many articles that still need to be assessed. You may help us to assess them, please see Category:Unassessed River articles for the complete list.

Infoboxes

Infobox river

The template ((Infobox river)) can be used for representative images and basic information about a river. See the template's documentation for instructions, examples and blank versions of the template to start with. You can see it in action on River Scheldt.

Navigation boxes

A list of navigation boxes can be found at: Category:River navigational boxes.

Userboxes

Wikitext	userbox	where used
((Template:User WikiProject Rivers))	This user is a participant in WikiProject Rivers.	linked pages
((Template:User WP Rivers))	This user actively participates in WikiProject Rivers.	linked pages
((Template:User interest rivers))	This user is interested in Rivers.	linked pages
((Template:User River))	This user is interested in rivers and fluvial processes.	linked pages
((Template:User interest Amazon River))	This user is interested in the Amazon River.	linked pages
((Template:User interest Congo River))	This user is interested in the Congo River.	linked pages
((Template:User interest Danube))	This user is interested in the Danube.	linked pages
((Template:User interest Mekong))	This user is interested in the Mekong.	linked pages
((Template:User interest Mississippi River))	This user is interested in the Mississippi River.	linked pages
((Template:User interest Nile))	This user is interested in the Nile.	linked pages
((Template:User interest Rhine))	This user is interested in the Rhine.	linked pages
((Template:User interest Yangtze))	This user is interested in the Yangtze.	linked pages

• transboundarywaters
• earthtrends maps (free registration required)
• U.S. Geological Survey Geological Name Information Server, lists all U.S. rivers with topo maps and many aerial photos. ((gnis)) links to specific entries.
• NWIS - USGS National Water Information System
• Database of Pan-Arctic River Discharge
• Hydrology of Canada