This outflow prevents massive flooding of the lower reaches of the river it also promotes fish migration from the river to the lakes for spawning, but drives birds away from the lakes.
When the monthly precipitation exceeds about 300 mm (12 in), the river overflows its banks, diverting much of its waters to the lakes at a rate of up to 1,000 m 3/s (35,000 cu ft/s), and forming a single volume of water with them. About 350 km (220 mi) from the source, near the northern shore of the river, lies a system of Kapuas Lakes which are connected to the river by numerous channels. There, the elevation decreases by only 50 meters (160 ft) over 900 km (560 mi) from Putussibau to the river delta.
For about 165 km (103 mi) it flows through a mountainous terrain and then descends to a marshy plain. The river originates near the center of Borneo, south from the Indonesian-Malaysian border, in the joint between the western slope of the Müller Mountain Range, which runs through the island center, and the southern slope of the Upper Kapuas Range (Indonesian: Kapuas Hulu), which is located more to the west.
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