Glossary
Discharge
Discharge is the volume rate of water passing a cross-section—commonly cubic feet per second (cfs) on USGS products. Stage can stay flat while discharge swings during gate changes.
Why it matters
Boaters care about cfs in the tailrace for loading and planing; biologists care for oxygen and temperature breaks. A steady pool elevation does not mean steady outflow.
Rating curves
USGS derives discharge from stage using site-specific rating curves. That is why streamgage pages show both—and why a given cfs can correspond to different stages after channel changes.
