Ghost towns.
Small creeks, streams and rivers that flow into larger rivers are called tributaries
Because the rivers and streams cannot handle the amount of rain that has fallen in a given period of time.
This cycle is often referred to as "boom and bust" in the mining industry. It describes the rapid growth and prosperity of a town when a mine is active, followed by economic decline and depopulation when the mine runs out of resources or becomes uneconomical.
Given something up totally.
The size and Rivers can have a branch where Creeks don't.
The abandoned factories and steel mills in the Great Lake were given the nickname "the rust belt"
abandoned
of Abandon, Forsaken, deserted., Self-abandoned, or given up to vice; extremely wicked, or sinning without restraint; irreclaimably wicked ; as, an abandoned villain.
The term for when they merge is 'confluence'.
you cant
A rivulette :)