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A recent algae bloom in the Potomac River is highlighting the problem of nutrient pollution in the river, and also what steps are being taken at the local, state and federal levels to prevent those pollutants from washing into waterways.

County officials are gearing up to implement a new Municipal Separate Storm Water Sewer System Discharge Permit, issued through the Maryland Department of the Environment, that would place stronger regulations on polluted stormwater that rushes into streams and rivers. Stormwater deposits nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus from sources including fertilizer used on lawns and agriculture, contributing to algae blooms and degrading water quality.

But some activists from environmental groups including the Potomac Riverkeeper, the Anacostia River Keeper, Waterkeeper Alliance and Friends of the Earth have challenged the permit, hoping to set stronger deadlines for ratcheting down on pollution.

"This isn't a bad permit; it just needs to have some stronger language about doing things as opposed to just talking about what they're going to do," said Jennifer Chavez, a lawyer who represents the environmental groups.

A final draft of the permit, which is awaiting approval by the MDE, requires the county to develop an implementation plan toward reaching limits known as "total maximum daily loads" for water pollutants including nitrogen, sediment and phosphorus. According to Meo Curtis, the county stormwater permit coordinator, that plan will look at best management practices when it comes to reducing stormwater, such as using stormwater management ponds and vegetation to soak up storm water.

While many environmentalists have hailed the permit as one of the strongest in the country, others have challenged the permit in court, arguing that it needs to set deadlines for reducing pollution.

Curtis said those deadlines will be developed as part of the implementation plan.

In March, the groups challenged the issuance of the permit in Baltimore County Circuit Court, but the appeal was overturned in June. The groups have since appealed that decision.

However, the groups who have challenged the permit and county officials do agree on at least one thing — the county's efforts alone won't be enough to reduce pollution in the Potomac.

"Just having Montgomery County ratchet down on nutrient loads is not going to prevent [nutrients] in the Potomac," Curtis said. "Most are actually coming from upstream, mainly from agricultural sources."

Environmental activists have echoed the concern that upstream pollution sources are fueling algae blooms here. "Every year, I've noticed [the algae] is a little worse and it's further downstream," Ed Merrifield, president of the environmental group Potomac Riverkeeper, one of the groups involved in the legal challenge.

The recent algae bloom, which has been reported in the river near Riley's Lock, Pennyfield Lock and Swain's Lock, was initially thought by some river users to be raw sewage. Scientists from the Maryland Department of the Environment, who responded to the bloom last month, discovered the problem to be blue-green algae that was decomposing in the water and emitting a foul stench. They have said they are unsure of the size of the bloom, but it is extensive.

According to the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin, a conservation group, excessive amounts of nutrients including nitrogen and phosphorous lead to algae blooms, especially during stretches of hot weather. And too much algae can have negative effects on bodies of water. It can block sunlight from the water, which can affect rooted plants that act as habitat for wildlife in the river, according to Curtis Dalpra, a spokesman for the ICPRB. Large amounts of decomposing algae can also suck oxygen from the water, which in extreme circumstances can lead to fish kills.

The MDE has said that the Potomac bloom will likely not cause a fish kill. Nonetheless, nutrient pollution is a nationwide and worldwide problem.

Also affecting nutrient reduction in the Potomac is a federal effort to clean up the Chesapeake Bay watershed. An executive order signed by President Obama in May requires a federal committee to oversee plans to clean up the bay, and those efforts will include developing a set of goals toward reducing total maximum daily loads for nitrogen and phosphorus.

Curtis said the county plans to coordinate efforts to reduce pollution with the federal goals once they have been set forth.