That doesn't look like Chara to me, not if what I have has been identified as Chara... otherwise Chara takes on two different looks.

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=259510#Post263481

There is a clear difference... and mine smells similar to a skunk smell, not exact, but it has resemblances to it. This looks thicker and appears to have bulb-like growth around some of the leaf areas.

I wonder if it may be Nitella, which I think may be more popular up north. Treatment would be the same, but there needs to be assurance that it is algae and not another form of weed... OR that either mine or yours is not misidentified, since they look different.