According to The Washington Post, the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has turned a murky shade of green once more, just days after a $14 million renovation project that was meant to fix the landmark. The algae bloom appeared right before an estimated 125,000 people were expected to arrive in Washington for President Donald Trump’s birthday celebration, which includes a series of UFC fights on the White House lawn.
Work crews tried to stop this from happening by spreading chlorine pellets across the water, but the green color showed up anyway. The pool bottom was recently coated in a shade described as American flag blue, which was meant to show off what was promised to be clean, clear water.
Interior Department spokeswoman Katie Martin offered an explanation for the pool’s current condition. She said, “What you are seeing is residual algae from the supply lines which have been sitting dormant for eight weeks while construction has been taking place. It’s part of the normal startup process.” Martin also said, “We are removing the algae, and the nanobubblers will maintain the pool and keep it algae free.”
The $14.2 million renovation left old, leaky pipes in place, and experts had warned the algae would return
Before the renovation was completed, concerns were raised that the project had ignored a major underlying problem, old, leaky pipes running beneath the pool, per The New York Times report. Experts had previously warned that unless those pipes were replaced, algae would likely keep coming back, and that concern has now proven relevant.
During Trump’s first term, the National Park Service noted that replacing thousands of feet of pipe was the only real long-term solution, but that work has not been done yet. The administration has said it plans to begin pipe replacement work in the fall, though no specific details about that phase have been shared.
The way the renovation was financed also drew attention. The administration awarded a no-bid contract to paint the pool blue to a Virginia company, and the cost rose from an initial $1.8 million to over $13 million as the team rushed to finish before the birthday events. President Trump has defended the spending, claiming the new blue coating will last 40 or 50 years and that there will be no leaks or other problems going forward.
The Washington Post reported that the algae bloom visibly expanded between Wednesday and Thursday as crowds began making their way to Washington for the weekend events. A lawsuit was filed to stop the UFC’s White House event, claiming it improperly skipped an environmental review and benefited Trump and his allies.
The administration says crews are actively removing the algae, and that the nanobubblers installed as part of the renovation will keep the pool clean going forward. As of now, the pool has not yet delivered the permanent, clear-water result that the renovation promised, with manual algae removal and the nanobubbler system serving as the immediate response to what has appeared just days after the project wrapped up.
Published: Jun 14, 2026 04:15 pm