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| Confluence of the South Fork (in foreground) & the Mainstem Chehalis 5-18-08 after 24 days of minimal rain, (.32")notice turbidity differences |
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.
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| 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 |
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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 |
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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 |  |
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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 |
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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 |
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River turbidity cleared after 24 days of fair weather & only . 32" total of rain |
| MSC 5-18-08 | SF 5-18-08 | ||
This turbidity continued about the same for about 3 years & then in the spring of 2012 the water clarity definitely improved. A fishing guide that fishes the lower river for steelhead informed me that in February of 2012 he noticed that the turbidity was not anywhere as bad after a rain of about 3/4" in 24 hours.