The water level of the river varies with the seasons and the precipitation; the spring flood occurs in March or April.

Besides the degradation of the banks, the runoff water also brings about the most fertile part of the soil made up of silt, clay and organic matter (in agricultural environment) and pours it into the Lorette river without meet the slightest natural barrier to limit the impact of this phenomenon.

The sediments transported to the river, once in suspension, increase the turbidity of the waters and cause physiological stress to the aquatic fauna.

At the beginning of the French colony in Canada, this winding river bore the name that the Jesuit father Pierre-Joseph-Marie Chaumonot attributed, in 1673, to the Lorette mission established for the Wendats (Hurons), near Quebec.

This stream also bore the name of Ruisseau Lorette, sometimes spelled Laurette or L'aurette, and that of Petite rivière Saint-Charles.