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THE relationship between the Shields diagram criterion for initiation of sediment motion and current stable channel design criteria is discussed. It is shown that the laboratory data represented by the Shields diagram is in better agreement with the empirically developed channel design criteria than is often assumed. A stress-partitioning approach to allowable stress design is discussed which applies to both coarse and fine material and is consistent with our present knowledge of flow-boundary interaction. Application of the approach is straightforward. No new data is introduced, and the discussion is simplified through consideration of only dominant processes and parameters. Emphasis is on application to design problems.