Alluvial:  Related to deposits made by flowing water.

Aquatic:  Refers to an organism that grows and lives in water.

Bankfull:  Point at the top of the stream bank where water begins to overflow onto the floodplain.

Benchmark:  Standard from which all other similar things are measured.  Kings Creek is a benchmark for water quality of other streams.

Biome:  A region that has distinct types of plant life, animal life and climate, all interacting to produce a major ecological community.

Bird’s-eye view:  A view from overhead looking down, such as what a flying bird might see looking downward to the earth.  Also called an aerial view.

Channel:  A waterway that contains moving water, defined above the stream bed and between the banks. 

Cross-section:  A view or measurement across the width of the channel, perpendicular to stream flow, defining the slope and form of the stream channel and stream bed.

Current:  The steady flow of water downstream. 

Debris:  The remains of something that has been damaged or broken down; the accumulation of fragments.

Deposition:  Sediment dropped to the stream bed from the water as the current slows.

Depth:  The vertical distance from the imaginary plane above the stream channel down to the stream bed measured in feet and inches.

Discharge:  Amount of water flowing past a given point in the stream, measured in cubic feet/second or cubic meters/second.

Distance:  The horizontal area across the stream channel measured in feet and inches.

Drought:  Shortage of rainfall; a prolonged period of dryness.

Downstream:  With the direction of the current, moving away from the source of the stream due to gravity. 

Ecology:  The study of the relationships of living things to one another and the environment. 

Elevation:  The distance of something above a reference point, such as sea level.

Erosion:  The removal or wearing away of soil or rock by water, wind or other processes.

Evaporation:  The process of water changing from a liquid state, such as rain, to a gas (water vapor).  

Evapo-transpiration:  The process of transferring moisture from the earth to the atmosphere by plants.

Extreme event:  Powerful, unusual event that exceeds the ordinary.

Flood:  High streamflow that overtops the natural or artificial banks of a stream.

Floodplain:  Flat area adjacent to the stream channel constructed by the river or stream and overflowed during high water events.

Fluvial:  Relating to or what is produced by flowing water in streams and rivers.

Geomorphology:  Study of the changes in geology or land features overtime.

Gravel bar:  A buildup of sediment or other material which can block the stream channel and redirect the flow of water.  Also called a point bar.

Ground water:  Water found under the ground in the soil and rock layers that collects over impermeable rock and then flows laterally toward a stream.

Headwaters:  The source of a stream.

High-water event:  Fast, high rise of water above the stream channel. This occurs when a large amount of rain falls on saturated soil causing the rainfall to move quickly over ground into a stream or body of water.  This is an extreme event, which can significantly change the stream channel.

Hydrology:  The branch of geology that studies water on the earth and in the atmosphere.

Hypothesis:  A potential explanation for a condition or set of facts that can be tested through further investigation. 

Impermeable:  A substance which does not allows liquids to pass through it.

Infiltration:  Drainage of water through soil.

Intermittent stream:  Does not flow year-round.

Left bank:  The bank on your left when looking downstream.  Research is taken from left bank to right bank.

Level: [adjective] A horizontal plane in which no part is higher or lower than the other.

Level: [noun] An instrument that establishes the horizontal when a bubble is centered in a tube of liquid.

Level: [verb] To make level or even on a horizontal plane.

Longitudinal profile:  A survey of the stream’s shape at points up and down stream, usually riffle to riffle, used to determine the elevation of the existing water surface and channel bottom.  

Meander:  The winding course of a stream.

Monument:  Standard from which all other similar things are measured.

Morphology:  The study of form and structure.

Nutrient:  Material that serves as food or provides nourishment.

Oxbow:  A U-shaped curve in a stream, often cut-off by the active channel creating an island.

Perennial stream:  Flowing throughout the year. 

Permeable:  A substance which allows liquids to pass through it. 

Plane:  An imaginary surface above the stream that is flat and level.

Pool:  Deeper and slower flowing water in a stream.

Precipitation:  The quantity of water falling to the earth as rain, snow, sleet, hail or mist; measured during a specific period for a specific region.  

Reach: A uniform section of stream with a repeating chain of physical characteristics and habitat types, such as pool-riffle-pool. 

Real-time:  What is happening right now, the actual time during which something is taking place.

Rebar:  A steel post, marking the beginning of a transect.

Riffle:  Shallow area of the stream characterized by rapid flow, a ripply surface and gravel bed.

Right bank:  The bank on your right when looking downstream. 

Riparian:  Located or living along or near a stream, river or body of water.

Runoff:  Water that drains or flows off the surface of the land. 

Saturated:  All spaces between soil particles and rock material are filled with water.

Scour:  Erosive action of flowing water in streams that removes and carries away material from the stream bed and banks.

Sediment:  Particles carried and deposited by the stream current.

Seep:  Underground water oozing naturally from the earth, too small to be a spring. 

Sinuosity:  Having curves or a series of bends and turns.

Slope:  Change in vertical elevation over horizontal distance.

Spring:  Underground water flowing naturally from the earth.

Stream:  A body of running water moving under the influence of gravity through a clearly defined natural channel.

Stream bank:  Soil at the edge of the stream.

Stream bed:  Bottom of the stream over which water moves.

Substrate:  Inorganic material that forms the stream bed.

Surface water:  Water on the surface of the land, including lakes, rivers, streams, ponds, floodwater and runoff.

Suspended sediment:  Particles carried in water without being dissolved.

Thaweg:  The line of deepest stream water occurring along the length of the channel, not necessarily in the middle of the channel.

Transect:  A straight line where observations or data are taken.

Transpiration:  The process by which water is absorbed by plants and evaporated into the atmosphere from the plant surfaces. 

Transport:  To carry solid material in the stream current.

Tributary:  A stream branch that flows into the main channel.

Turbidity:  Muddiness created by stirring up sediment; the measure of suspended sediment in the water.

Undercut:  To cut away the under part of the bank and leave an overhanging portion.

Upstream:  Against the current moving toward the source of the stream.

Velocity:  Distance traveled per time, such as feet/second.

Water’s edge:  The point on the stream bank where the surface of the water touches it. 

Watershed:  All the land area that drains into a particular body of water.  Also called a drainage basin.