Backwater (river)

[1] Manmade restrictions to natural stream flow or temporary natural obstructions such as ice jams, vegetation blockage, or flooding of a lower stream can create backwater.

[5][6] Backwaters also provide opportunities for leisure activities such as canoeing and fishing.

[7][8] The term has been applied as a metaphor to physical and social areas that have been bypassed.

It may apply to places that have been neglected in economic development,[9] or in the expression a "cultural backwater".

As a result, fresh and salt water may become mixed to form an estuarine environment.