The greater the discharge, the greater the capacity. CM- the maximum particle size a stream can transport. Streams with faster velocity have higher competence.

Literally, the carrying capacity of a stream is the amount of sediment it can transport under the given flow conditions. This is generally a descriptive term not used for quantitative statements of rates and amounts of sediment discharge, and its use is generally discouraged.

Streams carry dissolved ions as dissolved load, fine clay and silt particles as suspended load, and coarse sands and gravels as bed load. Fine particles will only remain suspended if flow is turbulent. In laminar flow, suspended particles will slowly settle to the bed.

The most important factors leading to their development are large bed load and readily erodible bank material, which enable channel shifts to occur with relative ease. Once formed, bars in braided channels can become vegetated and thereby stabilized as islands.

8 Different Types of Streams

• Alluvial Fans. When a stream leaves an area that is relatively steep and enters one that is almost entirely flat, this is called an alluvial fan.
• Braided Streams.
• Deltas.
• Ephemeral Streams.
• Intermittent Streams.
• Meandering Streams.
• Perennial Streams.
• Straight Channel Streams.

Streams need two things to exist: gravity and water. When precipitation falls onto the ground, some water trickles into groundwater, but much of it flows downhill across the surface as runoff and collects into streams. A watershed, or drainage basin, is the area that collects water for a stream.

Larger seasonal streams are more common in dry areas. Rain-dependent streams (ephemeral) flow only after precipitation. Runoff from rainfall is the primary source of water for these streams. Like seasonal streams, they can be found anywhere but are most prevalent in arid areas.

An arroyo (/əˈrɔɪoʊ/; from Spanish arroyo Spanish: [aˈroʝo], “brook”), also called a wash, is a dry creek, stream bed or gulch that temporarily or seasonally fills and flows after sufficient rain.

More Than Fish Fish living in freshwater habitats have plenty of company. Snails, worms, turtles, frogs, marsh birds, mollusks, alligators, beavers, otters, snakes, and many types of insects live there too. Some unusual animals, like the river dolphin and the diving bell spider, are freshwater creatures.