Economic benefits of constructing dams and reservoirs include:

• boosting tourism e.g. the local economy of Kielder has been boosted by £6 million thanks to the construction of Kielder Dam
• they can be used to produce electricity by passing the water through a turbine within the dam

Find out more about hard engineering.

Interlocking spurs are fingers of land that jut out into the river valley that streams and rivers are forced to flow around in the upper course.

Find out more about the landforms of erosion in the upper course of a river.

A channel cross-profile is a cross-section of only the river channel.

Find out more about the cross profile of a river.

Waterfalls and gorges are typically found in the upper course of the river.

Find out more about the landforms of erosion in the upper course of a river.

Three ways humans can increase the risk of flooding in rural areas are:

• Deforestation
• Intensive farming, leaving fields bare in the winter
• Overgrazing
• Increased use of polytunnels

Find out more about human and physical causes of flooding.