Image: Wikimedia Commons

wadi

River valley, especially a dry (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water only during times of heavy rain

EntityQ187971

Also known as jawra · wady

Subclass of: valley
, seasonal river
1
Sources
1.Stated in Q43474348
View statement on Wikidata ↗

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

A wadi is a river valley or a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that typically contains water only when heavy rain occurs, though wadis with year-round water flow do exist, such as Wadi Bani Khalid and Wadi Mawr. Wadis are located on gently sloping, nearly flat parts of deserts; commonly they begin on the lowest portions of alluvial fans and extend to inland sabkhas or dry lakes. Permanent channels rarely exist, due to lack of continual water flow. Water percolates down into the stream bed, causing an abrupt loss of energy and resulting in vast deposition. Wadis may develop dams of sediment that change the stream patterns in the next flash flood.

Overview

All data

29 statements · 24% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Different from: Uadi
winterbourne
Said to be the same as: arroyo

Data quality

statements

24%

externally sourced

Source last edited July 16, 2026. AIDb refreshes this page daily.

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AIDb. (2026). wadi (Q187971). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/wadi-Q187971