The suitability of using various methods for deriving unit hydrographs for small rural watersheds was investigated. The flood events were selected from the Colorado State University small watershed data file. The catchment areas for the watersheds in the data file range from 0.1 to 40 square miles. Two approaches--parametric system synthesis (routing techniques) and nonparametric system analysis (convolution techniques) were used. The routing techniques give nonoscillating unit hydrographs which are physically realizable. The peak rate of discharge and the time to peak are well defined by these methods. Thus, these parameters can be better used for further studies, such as correlations with watershed parameters, sensitivity to storm characteristics, etc. Portions of this document are not fully legible.