Hysteresis in relationships between discharge and water chemistry in the Fraser River basin, British Columbia

River loading rates are frequently determined from discharge and water chemistry relationships using regression techniques. Such methods were inadequate in a study of the Fraser River where hysteresis was present in most sampling stations. Over a 4‐year period the year‐by‐year fluctuations in hysteresis were relatively consistent but there were dramatic differences in its shape and direction between sampling stations in the same river basin. Events on two time scales were discerned: one forming minor loop relationships was related to individual storms, the other forming major loop relationships to seasonal changes. Conventional techniques are inadequate for dealing with this problem.