GC: n
CT: More often than not, the thought of rivers conjures up the image of high water levels and even floods. However, many communities depend on the availability of water through non-regulated river systems for their water supply. Therefore, periods of low flow are critical for managing their water resources. Similarly, it is the function and role of dams to level out the fluctuations of high and low flows and to provide a balanced water supply to meet demands. Knowledge of low-flow periods is therefore fundamental for reservoir design and determining allocations.
S: http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/hwrp/publications/low-flow_estimation_prediction/WMO%201029%20en.pdf (last access: 11 January 2015)
N: 1. low (adj): “not high,” late 13c., from lah (late 12c.), “not rising much, being near the base or ground” (of objects or persons); “lying on the ground or in a deep place” (late 13c.), from Old Norse lagr “low,” or a similar Scandinavian source (compare Swedish låg, Danish lav), from Proto-Germanic lega- “lying flat, low” (cognates: Old Frisian lech, Middle Dutch lage, Dutch laag “low,” dialectal German läge “flat”), from PIE legh- “to lie”.
flow (n): mid-15c., “action of flowing,” from flow (v.). Meaning “amount that flows” is from 1807. Sense of “any strong, progressive movement comparable to the flow of a river” is from 1640s.
2. The flow occurring in a stream during the driest period of the year.
3. low water: term used in referring to water levels resulting from tides. This is not a “stream” phenomenon. According to the “Glossary of Coastal Terminology” by the Department of Ecology in the State of Washington, low water is the minimum height reached by each falling tide.
S: 1. OED – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=low&searchmode=none; http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=low+flow&searchmode=none (last access: 11 January 2015). 2 & 3. TERMIUMPLUS.
SYN: minimum flow
S: TERMIUMPLUS
