[Vocabulary] creek/inlet/lough/channel/bay

[englishhobby]

I need the most common word (or, better, a term) you (or, better ;-), a specialist in irrigation) would use for the following:

We have them in the Volga floodlands (the area further the low bank of the Volga). They look like a small lake or a very small river. During the spring flooding period the ones that already existed become even larger and new ones appear. Some of them are linked together and to the river. When I worked as a translator for a Turkish film director who was going to shoot a documentary about this area (floodlands), I translated it for him as a "channel". Being also a non-native English speaker, he understood it very well (moreover, he saw these "channels" for himself when we travelled there which made it easier).

So is there a better word than a channel in English to describe this thing? I could go on using the word "channel", but there are also the words in the title that I have found and, perhaps, some other words that I don't know.

Here are some pictures I found which look more or less like them:

 

[MikeNewYork]

I need the most common word (or, better, a term) you (or, better ;-), a specialist in irrigation) would use for the following:

We have them in the Volga floodlands (the area further the low bank of the Volga). They look like a small lake or a very small river. During the spring flooding period the ones that already existed become even larger and new ones appear. Some of them are linked together and to the river. When I worked as a translator for a Turkish film director who was going to shoot a documentary about this area (floodlands), I translated it for him as a "channel". Being also a non-native English speaker, he understood it very well (moreover, he saw these "channels" for himself when we travelled there which made it easier).

So is there a better word than a channel in English to describe this thing? I could go on using the word "channel", but there are also the words in the title that I have found and, perhaps, some other words that I don't know.

Here are some pictures I found which look more or less like them:

View attachment 1718View attachment 1719View attachment 1720View attachment 1721

In the USA, these are often called flood plains. A channel is usually a permanent waterway connecting two larger bodies of water. Flood plains flood during the rainy season.

 

[englishhobby]

In the USA, these are often called flood plains. A channel is usually a permanent waterway connecting two larger bodies of water. Flood plains flood during the rainy season.

Yes, I know this word and use it too to describe this whole area. But when we mean just ONE little "lake" (there are hundreds of them on the floodplains) what do you call it?

 

[Tdol]

Of the words in the title, creek is the closest for me. Lough might not be understood by everyone. (Not a specialist)

 

[englishhobby]

Of the words in the title, creek is the closest for me. Lough might not be understood by everyone.

And if it doesn't flow, unlike a creek? It's a part of a former river-bed where water gets only in the spring and then this "small lake" gradually dries out until the next spring flooding.

It can also be a small "channel" with stagnant water between lakes in the floodplains.