$14 Million in Taxpayer Dollars went towards Renovating the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Now It's Full of Algae.

Taxpayers Paid Over $14 Million to Renovate the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Now It's Full of Algae.

Millions of people travel to the Lincoln Memorial each year, and the long Reflecting Pool stretching toward the Washington Monument is one of the most photographed spots in the nation's capital. This summer, as the country prepares to mark its 250th birthday, that famous stretch of water is getting attention for an unexpected reason: instead of mirror-clear blue water, visitors are finding green algae, peeling paint, and unexplained white blobs floating across a renovation that has already cost taxpayers far more than first promised.

What visitors are actually seeing at the Reflecting Pool

When ABC News visited the site on Friday afternoon, June 19, 2026, the water was filled with algae rather than the clear blue look that had been promised. Green patches lined the sides of the pool and spread across the middle, and several white blobs could be seen floating in the water, though it was not clear what they were.

The "American flag blue" paint coating the floor of the pool continued to peel. Some visitors reached down and pulled out pieces of the peeling paint to keep as souvenirs of the growing controversy. National Park Service crews were back in the pool, working to pump the algae out into drains.

The scene has become a draw of its own. Tourists stopped to photograph the blooming algae and joked about how quickly the large renovation project had run into trouble. A pair of protesters walked the edge of the pool carrying a "Team Algae" sign, poking fun at how little difference the cleanup work appeared to make.

The murky green water also drew commentary online, where people drew a connection between the algae bloom and Trump's old "drain the swamp" campaign slogan. As one social media user put it sarcastically, "You've renewed and invigorated the Swamp."

A renovation paid for with taxpayer dollars

The bill for the project is being covered by taxpayers, and it has grown well beyond what the public was first told. The repainting alone cost more than $14.65 million in public money. That is a steep jump from the early estimate: in April, President Donald Trump said the pool could be cleaned up within a week for about $1 million. Those costs have since climbed as new problems surfaced for park workers.

The spending did not stop there. Before the latest troubles, the National Park Service paid another $1.74 million in public funds to Green Water Solutions, an Ohio-based company, to install a "nanobubble" system meant to kill algae and prevent exactly the kind of issues now on display.

The project was directed by Trump as one of his signature improvement efforts for Washington, tied to his "Make America Beautiful" initiative and the upcoming 250th anniversary of U.S. independence. He has argued that visitors would be able to enjoy clear, blue water at one of the capital's most popular and historic sites.

"You're going to be very proud of it. It'll last for 50 to 100 years before you have to do anything, with very strong, powerful substance that we used," Trump said of the pool's lining earlier this month.

The government says one thing, the water shows another

On Wednesday night, the Department of the Interior pushed back on the criticism in a post on X.

"The Reflecting Pool water is crystal clear, and our National Park Service team is now vacuuming up the dead algae resting on the bottom of some parts of the Reflecting pool," the department said.

More than a day after that statement, the water still appeared to be anything but crystal clear. The department has acknowledged that every reopening of the Reflecting Pool has been hit by algae blooms, and that vacuuming up the algae would take a couple of days. The blooms became noticeable late last week and kept building through the week, turning the blue pool into a green, murky mess. ABC News reported it had reached out to the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior for more information.

How crews are fighting the algae

According to a spokesperson, the Interior Department has used both a hydrogen peroxide treatment and "nanobubble" ozone technology to try to reduce the discoloration and grime in the water — the same nanobubble approach the taxpayer-funded Green Water Solutions system was supposed to deliver.

Worries about the impact on wildlife

The cleanup has also raised questions about the animals that live in and around the pool. A viral image of a dead duckling found floating in the water over the weekend intensified scrutiny of the renovation, though officials have not confirmed what killed the bird.

Experts pointed to several possible explanations. Krysten Schuler, a wildlife disease ecologist with the Cornell Wildlife Health Lab noted that toxins can come from the algae itself: "Botulism, another toxin produced by the bacteria, Clostridium botulinum, has been identified previously in ducks dying on the reflecting pool," Schuler said.

Some social media users have speculated that hydrogen peroxide added to the Reflecting Pool to combat algae could have contributed to the duck’s death. A White House administration official said the chemical treatment was safe, saying, "The peroxide levels in the Reflecting pool have been tested — they are safe and at the same level used in natural swimming pools."

Wildlife advocates said the pool's design may pose its own risk. "One concern that has been documented at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is that ducklings may follow their parents into the water but have difficulty exiting because of the pool's steep sides," a DC Bird Alliance spokesperson said, adding that wildlife escape ramps "can reduce that risk."

Arrests at the pool, including a former Olympian

The peeling lining has also led to arrests. An administration official said that, as of Saturday night, five people had been arrested on vandalism charges connected to the Reflecting Pool, and five others had been issued citations. The U.S. Park Police did not immediately respond to ABC News's questions about the arrests.

One of those taken into custody was David Hearn, identified as a three-time U.S. Olympian in canoe slalom. Hearn told ABC News that police arrested him on Friday after he touched a piece of blue coating that was partially detached from the bottom of the pool. He denied damaging anything.

"I did not remove, I did not damage, I did not rip, tear, break, destroy or harm any part of the Reflecting Pool," Hearn said.

President Trump said on Sunday that repair work would begin "immediately," writing on Truth Social, "Work will begin immediately on fixing the seriously vandalized Reflecting Pool," and claiming he had just inspected it himself. He said the pool would likely need to be partially drained to fix the peeling lining, which he claimed, without evidence, had been damaged by intentional sabotage. Atlantic Industry Coatings, the company that installed the lining, confirmed on Sunday that the pool would need to be drained for repairs and that the work would be covered under the project warranty.

Workers are expected to keep trying to clear the water as summer tourism picks up ahead of the July 4th and America 250 celebrations.