MISSOULA — River season is in full swing in Missoula, but you might have noticed that the Clark Fork looks a little greener this year.
“It is hard not to notice all the algae that's there,” said Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) spokeswoman Vivaca Crowser. “It is something that we see routinely, but not this early and not at that magnitude.”
Algae is common along the river, but usually comes much later in the summer.
Crowser said the early, prolific bloom is due to a combination of factors, including higher temperatures, lower water levels and not much spring runoff.
Typically, spring runoff can be a “reset” for the river, clearing out all the junk from the previous summer.
Without that clean slate, and with this summer’s conditions, algae are running amok in the river much earlier this year.
“This year, there was still some of that remnant there from last year and probably even for a couple of years. So, that was already a baseline,” Crowser said. “Then we just had warmer temperatures and lower flows. Those are really the perfect conditions that foster that algae growth.”
While there are several types of algae blooming, Crowser said none are toxic to people or pets. But, watch out by the river, as some of the algae is pretty slippery.
“It's nothing toxic, nothing to be scared of, but it doesn’t look pretty,” she said.
