Discharge - The discharge of a stream is the amount of water passing any point in a given time. As the amount of water in a stream increases, the stream must adjust its velocity and cross sectional area in order to form a balance. Discharge increases as more water is added through rainfall, tributary streams, or from groundwater seeping into the stream. As discharge increases, generally width, depth, and velocity of the stream also increase. Load - The rock particles and dissolved ions carried by the stream are the called the stream's load.
Stream load is divided into three parts.
Suspended Load - particles that are carried along with the water in the main part of the streams. The size of these particles depends on their density and the velocity of the stream. Higher velocity currents in the stream can carry larger and denser particles. Note that sediment can move between bed load and suspended load as the velocity of the stream changes. Dissolved Load - ions that have been introduced into the water by chemical weathering of rocks.