Lesson 1 - The graph in this link illustrates how when the red line goes up, river depth, the specific conductance goes down.  This general trend is supported by the understanding that rain water is nearly pure and dilutes the specific conductance (dissolved solids) in the river water.  This is counterintuitive to most folks because the river becomes turbid during high water and most would assume it is more contaminated, but these are suspended solids, not dissolved solids.   What we need to watch for in this trend is if we see depth go up and conductivity go up at the same time.  This would indicate solutes are being washed into the river by the rain.  Or if conductance goes up without any change in depth indicates someone is simply dumping stuff in the river.  We have seen this before over a 11 day stretch at Treichlers.