Template:Generic:Map Features:waterway

Waterway

This is used to described different types of waterways. When mapping the way of a river, stream, drain, canal, etc. these need to be aligned in the direction of the water flow. See the page titled Waterways for an introduction on its usage.

Key	Value	Element	Comment	carto Rendering	Photo
Natural watercourses
waterway	river		For narrow rivers which will be rendered as a line. For larger rivers see also waterway=riverbank (Other languages).
waterway	riverbank		Used for larger rivers in addition to waterway=river, to define an area between the opposite riverbanks. Also see water=river with natural=water.
waterway	stream		A naturally-formed waterway that is too narrow to be classed as a river. An active, able-bodied person should be able to jump over it.
waterway	tidal_channel		A natural tidal waterway within the coastal marine environment with bi-directional flow of salty water which depends on the tides.
waterway	wadi		A natural, dry (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water only during times of heavy rain or simply an intermittent stream, in semi-arid areas. Also known as a "Wash" in the deserts of America. It has been recommended to stop using this tag. For intermittent waterways use waterway=river/waterway=stream + intermittent=yes. For valleys natural=valley.
waterway	drystream		Dry stream bed - negative forms of erosion relief formed by the activity of temporary streams. Don't use this tag. For intermittent waterways use waterway=stream + intermittent=yes. For valleys use natural=valley.
Man made waterways
waterway	canal		An artificial open flow waterway used to carry useful water for transportation, waterpower, or irrigation. (Other languages).
waterway	pressurised		A waterway where water is flowing in a fully enclosed conduit and subject to pressure; this includes gravity-driven penstocks and siphons and pump-driven pipelines, for example.
waterway	drain		An artificial free flow waterway used for carrying superfluous water like storm water or industrial discharge, usually lined with concrete, stones or similar.
waterway	ditch		An small artificial free flow waterway used for carrying superfluous water for drainage purposes, usually unlined.
waterway	fairway		A navigable route in a lake or sea marked by buoys. The navigable area marked by the buoys can be mapped with seamark:type=fairway.
waterway	fish_pass		A fish pass, also known as a fish ladder, a fishway or fish steps, is a structure on or around artificial barriers (such as dams and locks) to facilitate diadromous fishes natural migration.
Facilities
waterway	dock		An 'enclosed' area of water used for building or repairing ships.
waterway	boatyard		Boat yard – a place for constructing, repairing and storing vessels out of the water.
Barriers on waterways
waterway	dam		A wall built across a river or stream to impound the water. A dam normally does not have water flowing over the top of it.
waterway	weir		A barrier built across a river to control speed and depth. Water can still flow over the top.
waterway	waterfall		A waterfall, use in combination with natural=cliff
waterway	lock_gate		To mark the position of gates at each end of a lock. Alternatively, for smaller locks use a single lock=yes node in the middle of the lock.
Other features on waterways
waterway	turning_point		A place to turn the driving direction for vessels, where the boats are longer than the river/canal is wide. Use maxlength=* to denote the maximum length of the vessel.
waterway	water_point		A place to fill fresh water holding tanks of a boat.
waterway	fuel		A place to get fuel for boats.
Some additional attributes for waterways
intermittent	yes		Indicates that the waterway is sometimes dry and sometimes contains water.
seasonal	yes, spring, summer, autumn, winter, wet_season, dry_season		Indicates that a waterway has a seasonal (yearly cyclic) flow, usually flowing continuously for at least some part of the year.
destination	name		Name of the body of water the linear feature flows into.
lock	yes	()	A lock is used for moving boats between waterways at two different levels. Can tag either the section of the way between the gates (detailed) or just a single node in the waterway (less detailed).
mooring	yes, private, no		A length of bank where boats are explicitly permitted to moor. maxstay=* should be used for timing information.
usage	transmission, irrigation, headrace, tailrace, penstock		A waterway=canal may have one (or more; separate with semicolons) uses.
tunnel	culvert	()	A short tunnel usually installed under roads, railways or building. Its size doesn't allow human to get inside and is as narrow as the structure is supposed to go under. For streams passing under a road in culverts use tunnel=culvert+layer=-1 on the section of stream passing under the road. Don't use either of these tags for streams passing under bridges.
tunnel	flooded		A long (> 100 m) tunnel where flowing water or other fluid prevent humans from safely walking inside despite its appropriate diameter or size. Water inside can be pressurised or not, used in combination with any waterway=* linear value. waterway=*.
bridge	aqueduct		A bridge which conveys an artificial waterway over a road, valley, or another waterway.
waterway	user defined		All commonly used values according to Taginfo

Template documentation

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Usage

See also