When do rivers begin?

There are two main ways in which rivers begin. Some rivers start when a natural spring releases water from the underground. These are often small trickles of water which develop into small streams. In turn these streams increase in size until they are acknowledged as rivers. Others rivers begin when persistent rain makes a groove or a channel in a piece of land. As more and more rain falls into this channel, a flow of water slowly begins. Just like the spring, a stream can soon develop in to a river. When rivers reach land close to sea level, they began to meander, farming a snake like shape on the land. This is caused by the gradual dropping of the sediment it carries where the flow is weak.