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[daggaz]

If you tunnel into a river (assume a depth of 7/7), how many squares will the water flow before it starts petering out into 1/7 depths?  Also, will it make a difference if I tunnel directly in, or channel down from above (creating a ramp), etc?   Im trying to divert streams over my fort to create waterfalls throughout the main areas, and last time I tried, half the channels were too long and the waterfalls were inaffective.   I didnt have that specific problem the first time I tried, but stupidly I deleted the fort in frustration last nite.   

(I know I could just dig a channel, but my gf is stealing the comp and I wont have time except to refresh this page occasionaly, would like to plan out my next attempt on paper meanwhile. Thanks guys)

[Dsarker]

Rivers never peter out.

[rhesusmacabre]

If your tunnel is below the level of the river, this will increase the pressure/flow.

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[Sutremaine]

If the river is flowing off the map as well as into your channels it'll eventually run out of steam unless you give it some help by pressurising it. To do this you can either use an always-on pump near the river, or dig into the river from below and making sure the channel is always below river level. The latter will likely kill the miner who takes out that last square unless you set something up in advance or use a cavein to remove the river floor. Maybe a door / pressure plate setup that'll close the door when the plate detects water, although it won't be much use if your miner is flailing around on the wrong side when it closes.

[daggaz]

OK hmm.   First time I did it, I had something like

F : T : T: D : R  where F is Fortification block, T is open tunnel, D is a dirt filled block, and R is a river block.  I then channeled above the D and the adjacent T block.  My dwarves were idiots tho, and ended up jumping in and dying (tho I know how to fix that now).  The channels ran fine tho, and I got plenty of flow further down all the way past the floodgates i installed and to the tile that leads down into the drop chutes for the waterfalls.   Thing is, I didnt like how the open channels looked at the edge, and I would really like to avoid building floor plates.

Second time I did it, I jammed the fortification block all the way up against the river embankment:

F : D : R ,  and just channeled the D block from above.  This gave me a ramp directly inbetween my fortification block and the river current.  Unfortunately, the water did not flood the tunnels completely, and got shallower and shallower.  Some of them were close enough, and I got good waterfalls, others were only half way decent, and some falls were completely dry.    I have a feeling that it might be because I was too close to a natural waterfall in the river (were the depths began to lessen the closer you got), but just want to make sure before I spend that much time again.

Question:  If I do end up tunneling in from underneath the river, will I risk getting more pressure than normal at the bottom of my drainage tunnel to the end of the map?  Also, will I risk draining the entire river?  I am making nine channels, the first time i did this, there was no appreciable drop in the main river.  Thats important because it is a major defensive feature for my fort.  All I really want is to make sure my waterfalls are running nicely.