River basin lag time (LAG), defined as the elapsed time between the occurrence of the centroids of the effective rainfall intensity pattern and the storm runoff hydrograph, is an important factor in determining the time to peak and the peak value of the instantaneous unit hydrograph, IUH. In the procedure of predicting a sedimentgraph (suspended sediment load as a function of time), the equivalent parameter is the lag time for the sedimentgraph (LAG s ), which is defined as the elapsed time between the occurrence of the centroids of sediment production during a storm event and the observed sedimentgraph at the gauging station. Results of analyses of rainfall, runoff and suspended sediment concentration event data collected from five small Carpathian basins in Poland and from a 2.31-ha agricultural basin, in central Illinois, USA have shown that LAG s was, in the majority of cases, smaller than LAG, and that a significant linear relationship exists between LAG s and LAG.