A nearly instantaneous, radical change in water elevation typically represented by the presence of a waterfall or steep cascade that is eroding upstream. Headcuts often trigger a gully head; ‘headcuts and their…gullies, are arguably the most difficult channel disturbances to control or reduce. The most effective method for dealing with headcuts is to prevent them from initiating at all’.

http://www.feather-river-crm.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4&Itemid=4 Website of Plumas Corporation, which focuses on the economics of natural resources.