Losing stream

A losing stream, disappearing stream, influent stream or sinking river is a stream or river that loses water as it flows downstream. The water infiltrates into the ground recharging the local groundwater, because the water table is below the bottom of the stream channel. This is the opposite of a more common gaining stream (or effluent stream) which increases in water volume farther downstream as it gains water from the local aquifer. ^[1]

Losing streams are common in arid areas due to the

.

Examples

The examples and perspective in this section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this section, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new section, as appropriate. (July 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Zalomka

.

There are many natural examples of subterranean rivers including:

• Vrljika-Trebižat; Lištica-Jasenica; Šuica-Ričina^[3][4]

• The
  Möhringen in an area of karst
  .

• The
  Selwyn River / Waikirikiri normally disappears below ground as it flows down the Canterbury Plains due to overlaying a deep and porous aquifer, re-emerging about 15 kilometres away from its output at Lake Ellesmere / Te Waihora
  .

• There are two rivers in Idaho, the
  springs, they are tributaries of the Snake River
  .
• The
  sink holes of the type that are abundant in the karstland of southern Indiana.^[5]
• The
  White Mountains of New Hampshire. It is part of the Pemigewasset River watershed. The Lost River begins in Kinsman Notch, one of the major passes through the White Mountains. As it flows through the notch, it passes through Lost River Gorge, an area where enormous boulders falling off the flanking walls of the notch at the close of the last Ice Age have covered the river, creating a network of boulder caves.^[6]
• The
  Eastern Panhandle region of the state. It flows into an underground channel northeast of Baker along West Virginia Route 259 at "the Sinks" and reappears near Wardensville as the Cacapon River
  .

• Ponor
• Groundwater
• Spring (hydrology)
• Subterranean river

• Tom Aley, Karst Groundwater, Missouri Conservationist Online, Mar. 2000 – Vol. 61 No. 3