I took at trip up to the Eel River last weekend. These photos are from Standish-Hickey State Recreation Area.  Cladophora is starting grow in the river. I am expecting a big algae year because the big rain events in December flushed a lot of the aquatic insects out to sea. Since insect herbivore populations are low, Cladophora can grow faster than insects can eat it, which means lots of algae biomass in the river.

The photo below shows some really green Cladophora, note the branching pattern.

Below is some Cladophora in a backwater area at Standish-Hickey Recreation Area. The location of these algae surprised me, because over the weekend I usually saw Cladophora growing in fast flowing water, while this algae was growing in fairly stagnant water.