{"id":1589,"date":"2026-06-11T19:05:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T19:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1589"},"modified":"2026-06-11T19:05:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T19:05:14","slug":"residual-algae-coats-part-of-newly-opened-reflecting-pool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1589","title":{"rendered":"‘Residual algae’ coats part of newly opened Reflecting Pool"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n

The Trump administration has spent days heavily promoting the finished renovations at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, crediting the president with making Washington, DC, look \u201cbetter than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Canada proposes ban on social media accounts for kids under 16 without safety proof<\/a><\/p>\n

But a day after the reservoir was filled post-renovations, there was already quite a bit of algae visible from the water\u2019s edge.<\/p>\n

CNN spotted a worker clearing the algae from the bottom of the recently filled pool while shooting a video on Wednesday. Asked for comment, an Interior Department spokesperson said the algae is \u201cresidual\u201d and a normal part of the early process of restarting operations at the Reflecting Pool.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat 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\u2019s part of the normal startup process. We are removing the algae, and the nanobubblers will maintain the pool and keep it algae free,\u201d communications director Kate Martin said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Donald J. Trump is an expert builder who has fixed the Reflecting Pool for good unlike the failed and extremely costly attempt by Obama and Biden,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Martin said that the National Park Service invested in \u201ca state-of-the-art ozone nanobubbler filtration system\u201d that is intended to keep algae out.<\/p>\n

RELATED STORY | <\/b>Kennedy Center begins removing Trump\u2019s name following court order<\/b><\/p>\n

The Trump administration has been touting the newly renovated Reflecting Pool, and Trump himself has repeatedly bragged about the $14.2 million pet project in public remarks recently \u2014 including to farmers in Wisconsin and in multiple unrelated events in the Oval Office. Previously, he would disparage the state of the Reflecting Pool, saying it was feces-infested and in disrepair. He contended that previous administrations failed to repair leaks and other problems.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe water is ON, the Reflecting Pool is reflecting, and D.C. is looking better than ever,\u201d the White House X account posted last week, before the pool had finished filling with water.<\/p>\n

The Interior Department provided the statement after CNN sent videos of the algae. Initially, the spokesperson said the Fish and Wildlife Service wasn\u2019t convinced it was algae before explaining that it was \u201cresidual algae.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more 64 libraries in Maricopa County are hosting a summer reading program with prizes for all ages<\/a><\/p>\n

A department official said they would have a firmer timeline tomorrow on when the residual algae will be removed, adding that they didn\u2019t want to speculate on timing due to the rain.<\/p>\n

The cost of the renovations has gradually ticked upward. The president had initially said the renovation would cost $1.8 million, but that went up to $13.1 million before seemingly settling at $14.2 million.<\/p>\n

\u201cI originally thought I\u2019d do it for $2 or $3 million,\u201d Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. \u201cJust do a base. But now we are fixing up the exterior of it so we will probably be in it for less than $20 million.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to a contract summary under the Obama administration, the cost for renovations to the Reflecting Pool at the time was $35.3 million.<\/p>\n

Residents and tourists around the reflecting pool Wednesday morning offered mixed reviews on the renovations, including the \u201cAmerican flag blue\u201d paint newly coating the bottom.<\/p>\n

\u201cI needed to come down to see if it was actually reflecting, and it wasn\u2019t bright blue. And I\u2019m impressed, to be honest. It reflects beautifully,\u201d said Lara Harvey, who is from New Zealand but has lived in Bethesda the last 10 years. \u201cI was expecting a swimming pool. I was expecting swimming pool blue, but I\u2019m really surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marcus Tate, who lives in Alexandria and had spotted the algae said, \u201cDC is already a beautiful place\u201d and criticized the administration for spending money on unnecessary upkeep and not doing more to help the homeless.<\/p>\n

And Kyra Brown, a DC resident, was skeptical that the renovations were worth it. Looking at the renovation from the steps beyond the pool, she said, \u201cIt doesn\u2019t look that much different, honestly, to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The-CNN-Wire<\/i>
\u2122 & \u00a9 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.<\/i><\/p>\n

Read more WATCH: Critics say\u00a0Scottsdale budget falls short on water planning<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CNN spotted a worker clearing the algae from the bottom of the recently filled pool while shooting a video on Wednesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1588,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news"],"yoast_head":"\n'Residual algae' coats part of newly opened Reflecting Pool - Arizona Moving Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1589\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'Residual algae' coats part of newly opened Reflecting Pool - Arizona Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"CNN spotted a worker clearing the algae from the bottom of the recently filled pool while shooting a video on Wednesday.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1589\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arizona Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-11T19:05:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1589#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1589\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9c272b4cf18e019eb01eb3c1b5d855fb\"},\"headline\":\"‘Residual algae’ coats part of newly opened Reflecting Pool\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-11T19:05:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1589\"},\"wordCount\":709,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1589#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/ef3f464035cb4ba081fcf8346d69bfde-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"National News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1589#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1589\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1589\",\"name\":\"'Residual algae' coats part of newly opened Reflecting Pool - Arizona Moving Insider\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1589#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1589#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/ef3f464035cb4ba081fcf8346d69bfde-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-11T19:05:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9c272b4cf18e019eb01eb3c1b5d855fb\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1589#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1589\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1589#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/ef3f464035cb4ba081fcf8346d69bfde-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/ef3f464035cb4ba081fcf8346d69bfde-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1703,\"caption\":\"The Reflecting Pool and Lincoln Memorial are seen in Washington, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo\\\/Cliff Owen)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1589#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"‘Residual algae’ coats part of newly opened Reflecting Pool\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arizona Moving Insider\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9c272b4cf18e019eb01eb3c1b5d855fb\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"'Residual algae' coats part of newly opened Reflecting Pool - Arizona Moving Insider","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1589","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"'Residual algae' coats part of newly opened Reflecting Pool - Arizona Moving Insider","og_description":"CNN spotted a worker clearing the algae from the bottom of the recently filled pool while shooting a video on Wednesday.","og_url":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1589","og_site_name":"Arizona Moving Insider","article_published_time":"2026-06-11T19:05:14+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1589#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1589"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9c272b4cf18e019eb01eb3c1b5d855fb"},"headline":"‘Residual algae’ coats part of newly opened Reflecting Pool","datePublished":"2026-06-11T19:05:14+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1589"},"wordCount":709,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1589#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ef3f464035cb4ba081fcf8346d69bfde-scaled.jpg","articleSection":["National News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1589#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1589","url":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1589","name":"'Residual algae' coats part of newly opened Reflecting Pool - Arizona Moving Insider","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1589#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1589#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ef3f464035cb4ba081fcf8346d69bfde-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-11T19:05:14+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9c272b4cf18e019eb01eb3c1b5d855fb"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1589#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1589"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1589#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ef3f464035cb4ba081fcf8346d69bfde-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ef3f464035cb4ba081fcf8346d69bfde-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1703,"caption":"The Reflecting Pool and Lincoln Memorial are seen in Washington, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo\/Cliff Owen)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1589#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"‘Residual algae’ coats part of newly opened Reflecting Pool"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/","name":"Arizona Moving Insider","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9c272b4cf18e019eb01eb3c1b5d855fb","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com"],"url":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}