How does the water get into a river?
Water from rain, melting snow, and melting ice flows into rivers. The water in rivers always flows downhill because of gravity. Smaller streams flow into larger rivers

How long does water spend in a river?
It depends on how fast the river or stream is flowing. However, on average, a water drop spends 16 days traveling through rivers before it moves to its next journey in the water cycle.

How does it get out of the river?
Water leaves rivers when it flows into lakes and oceans. The water that is in rivers eventually flows into an ocean at a delta like the one in the picture. The river drops the sand and pebbles that it carried when it reaches a delta.

Why don’t rivers run out of water?
At the same time water is leaving a river, more water from precipitation and melting snow and ice is joining it.