Floodplains contain such features as levees, backswamps, delta plains, and oxbow lakes.
Rivers with extensive floodplains are the Nile, Ganges, Danube, and Po. Floodplains are generally very fertile, thus making them rich agricultural lands. The disadvantage of farming on a floodplain is the natural hazard of floods . In the United States there has been extensive house construction on floodplains in recent years, necessitating the construction of new dams to control small, annual floods. Licensed from Columbia University Press.