Turbidity of Chehalis River after the
Dec 4, 2007 flood 

In the photos shown below, river water was sampled from 100 yards above the mouth of the South Fork (the old Chehalis Western railroad bridge) & then a mile above, on the mainstem Chehalis at the high bridge at Ceres.  The water in the photos shown are in a small white bucket 5'" in diameter & the water is filled 5 1/2" deep.  The red metal slug in the bottom is 1 1/8 inch dia.  The lighting is from a 100 watt incandescent bulb in a photography shade directly above the water at a height of 24" above the top of the bucket.    Camera is a Fuji FinePix S5200.  No enhancement was done after photos taken.   The colors do not seem to really represent natural in the river color, but do give some degree of representation.

On 3-30-08 & again on 5-18-08, standing on the old railroad trestle over the South Fork (one of the turbidity collection locations) & looking toward the confluence of the 2 rivers, it was easy to see the difference in color of the water of the 2 rivers.

Confluence of the South Fork (in foreground) & the Mainstem Chehalis  5-18-08 after 24 days of minimal rain, (.32")notice turbidity differences

 

Reference red colored metal in bottom of buckets			Water sample taken from the mainstem Chehalis near Adna the day after the flood of 12-04-07
	Mainstem Chehalis above SF	South Fork of Chehalis
River turbidity  cleared after 3 months			River turbidity  cleared after 3 months
	MSC 3-08-08	SF 3-08-08
River turbidity after rains & river raised 1.5' in 3 previous days			River turbidity after rains & river raised 1.5' in 3 previous days
	MSC 3-16-08	SF 3-16-08
River turbidity after rains &  river raised 1.6' in 5 previous days			River turbidity after rains &  river raised 1.6' in 5 previous days
	MSC 3-30-08	SF 3-30-08
River turbidity  cleared after 24 days of fair weather & only  . 32" total of rain			River turbidity  cleared after 24 days of fair weather & only  . 32" total of rain
	MSC 5-18-08	SF 5-18-08

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