AbstractSediment rating curves, which are fitted relationships between river discharge (Q) and suspended‐sediment concentration (C), are commonly used to assess patterns and trends in river water quality. In many of these studies, it is assumed that rating curves have a power‐law form (i.e.C = aQb, whereaandbare fitted parameters). Two fundamental questions about the utility of these techniques are assessed in this paper: (i) how well to the parameters,aandb, characterize trends in the data, and (ii) are trends in rating curves diagnostic of changes to river water or sediment discharge? As noted in previous research, the offset parameter,a, is not an independent variable for most rivers but rather strongly dependent onbandQ. Here, it is shown thatais a poor metric for trends in the vertical offset of a rating curve, and a new parameter,â, as determined by the discharge‐normalized power function [C = â(Q/QGM)b], whereQGMis the geometric mean of theQ‐values sampled, provides a better characterization of trends. However, these techniques must be applied carefully, because curvature in the relationship between log(Q) and log(C), which exists for many rivers, can produce false trends inâandb. Also, it is shown that trends inâandbare not uniquely diagnostic of river water or sediment supply conditions. For example, an increase inâcan be caused by an increase in sediment supply, a decrease in water supply or a combination of these conditions. Large changes in water and sediment supplies can occur without any change in the parameters,âandb. Thus, trend analyses using sediment rating curves must include additional assessments of the time‐dependent rates and trends of river water, sediment concentrations and sediment discharge. Published 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.Hydrological Processespublished by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.