1) In Yorkshire this was the usual word for a river, beck or brook.
Catterick Bridge was built oure the watir of Swalle in 1422 and Sheffield’s Lady’s Bridge over the watyr of Dune in 1485-6. It remained in general use through the sixteenth century, and persisted into the eighteenth century at least: 1531 one close of meadow ... as the same ... abutteth upon the river or water that runneth from the town of Bradford unto the Ayre
1582 a litle water or brooke commonlie called Collerden water
1640 3 parcells of land ... abutting upon the water or brook there, Almondbury
1706 the water of Colne in Honley. Even by the early 1500s this had begun to be seen as a regional term by scribes and it was regularly translated as ‘river’ in title deeds, etc: 1649 to the water or Ryver of Tease, Yarm
1675 the river or water which runneth betwixt Smithyplacebridge and Honley.