How does the nile river effect the plants and animals and soil around it?

Before modern flood control, the rise and fall of the River Nile controlled all life in Egypt. High water could spread far beyond the river banks where slowed velocity allows accumulated silt particles drop out of suspension. This would enrich the soils in the flood plain which would be exposed later when the water receded for the dry season.

In these flood plains, plants such as papyrus and lotus were common because both can lie dormant in the ground after water recedes, waiting for its return. Known as marginals because they live at this fluctuating margin of a water body, these plants grow equally well inundated or on dry land. They offer food for a variety of animals and reproductive habitat for many species. So like the river, the presence of high water and thriving plants directly relates to the type and quantity of animals and fish that call these shallows their home.