The Souris River is currently covered in thick, foamy algae, which has been apparent since the heat wave a few weeks ago here in Weyburn.

We asked the Spokesperson with the Water Security Agency, Patrick Boyle, why this happened this year, but not every year.

"It's related to the weather conditions, so anytime you have algae bloom or blue-green algae in a body of water in Saskatchewan, it's a couple of different things that make that."

He said it is a combination of hot dry weather, with days of 30 degrees or more, and not much wind.

"If you don't get a lot of wind and wave action, that creates conditions that are really favorable for the formation of algae," he explained. "It's just a matter of the local conditions in certain areas and how hot or dry and not wind and wave action on the body of water, because it won't get broken up."

Boyle said to clear up the algae, a change in weather is needed. However, some areas in our same weather system didn't get the same algae development as the Souris.

"It just depends on the area. One area which is close in proximity can be very different from another," he noted. "It's just that formation on whatever body of water that is. You can have one part of one lake that has an algae bloom and then go a couple of hundred meters down the shoreline and be perfectly fine. So that's pretty common, no matter what the system is, so it's not a surprise to anyone here at Water Security Agency."

He said other factors may be the cause, but weather conditions are the most predominant reason for the bloom.

While algae can make a human ill, it's important to keep pets away from it.

"It's generally a good practice to avoid algae blooms, and those heavy concentrations where you see those things," Boyle commented. "For humans, direct contact, or unintended consumption of algae can cause red skin, sore throat, cramps, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea."

"Algae can be fatal to pets that ingest it, because, think of your dog going along the river or a body of water, and they go to drink out of that significant amount, it can be harmful to animals."

He advised avoiding algae blooms until they break up when the weather changes.

Some of the blooms pictured in the gallery below are not all algae, but duckweed.