Sometimes Nasty

Blue green is one of my favourite colours except when it applies to the type of algae on the river that meanders lazily through our prairie city.

I still enjoy my early morning power walks on the trails and paths alongside the Souris River.

I’m just not enjoying the views as much now that the annual algae bloom has set in.

The Souris (turns into the Mouse River in North Dakota) is very shallow here. As a result, a rainy summer (which washes nutrients from nearby fields into the river) followed by heat in excess of 30°C (86°F) for an extended period, and an unusual zero wind for weeks on end, makes for perfect conditions for an extreme algae bloom.

And blooming it is! This year, in places, the algae mat is so thick it looks like a wrinkled carpet.

The next photo shows opposite sides of one of the bridges I walk across on my trails.

Blue green algae is toxic to pets and livestock and the usual big flocks of ducks and geese have chosen elsewhere to have their last summer swims before making their way to warmer climes for the winter months.

Thankfully, our drinking water supply isn’t sourced from the mighty and currently nasty Souris.