Whether rating curves are used in practice or new ones are derived, the characteristics of regression analysis are often neglected. For example, a discharge rating curve, which is established from a regression of observed water levels (H) on observed flowrates(Q), is sometimes used for estimating a design water level corresponding to a simulated design flood runoff. However, if independent and dependent variables are changed with each other, the regression equation is changed in existing regression analysis, which is derived from vertical errors between observed data and regression line. Thus, regression equations should not be applied inversely. To avoid this problem, A new two-way variable least-squares regression analysis is proposed. The new method was applied to the rating curves of five water level stations on main stream of Nakdong River. The three kinds of regression models, which are respectively regression of Q versus H (model 1), H versus Q (model 2) and two-way (model 3), showed that the new method can reduce inadvertent mistakes when applied in practice.