WASHINGTON — Federal officials announced this week that the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, recently upgraded at a cost of $14 million to achieve a historically accurate shade described in procurement documents as "American flag blue," will be drained, scrubbed, and refilled after the pool was found to have reverted to what the Bureau of Decorative Water Surfaces is calling "an unauthorized biological state." The announcement came after photographs circulated on social media showing the pool's water had turned a vivid green, a development attributed by officials to algae, and by the president to knife-wielding vandals.
The $14 million renovation, which the National Park Service's original estimate had priced at approximately $2 million, included a proprietary paint formulation, an aquatic infrastructure overhaul, and an unspecified sum for "chromatic alignment consulting," according to documents reviewed by unnamed officials who asked not to be named reviewing documents. The project was completed in April. The algae arrived in May. Photosynthesis, reached for comment, did not respond by press time.
In response to the algae bloom, federal crews deployed a $1.7 million nanobubble ozone machine, described in a Bureau of Aquatic Remediation press release as "the most advanced puddle technology in the Western Hemisphere." The machine was joined by industrial vacuum equipment, hydrogen peroxide treatments, and a rotating crew of contractors in waders who sources confirm were paid at rates the Bureau declined to characterize as "hourly." The algae declined to characterize them as a threat.
"The pool was attacked," a senior administration official said at a briefing, gesturing toward a photograph of green water. "You can see the damage. You can see what they did to it." When a reporter noted that algae are not people, the briefing was concluded. A follow-up statement clarified that the investigation remained ongoing and that no body of water should consider itself beyond suspicion.
The paint, for its part, resolved the situation independently. According to maintenance workers who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were standing next to a pool, large sections of the American flag blue coating began peeling away from the pool's basin without intervention, floating to the surface in flakes that witnesses described as "substantial" and one contractor described as "actually kind of pretty." It is understood that the paint's departure was not considered a vindication of the algae.
At least one individual was detained after reportedly picking up a piece of floating paint chip, according to a Park Police spokesperson who confirmed the detention while declining to confirm what crime touching a buoyant paint flake constitutes under federal statute. A second individual was reportedly questioned for taking a photograph of the pool from a publicly accessible sidewalk. The Bureau of Witness Management did not return a request for comment, as it does not exist, though several officials interviewed for this story suggested it perhaps should.
Algae, it is worth noting, have existed on Earth for approximately 3.5 billion years, a figure the Interior Department's timeline does not appear to account for. The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, constructed in 1922, functioned for decades without a designated color. It is 2,029 feet long, holds approximately 6.7 million gallons of water, and is, according to a plaque that no one has proposed repainting, dedicated to the memory of the nation's sixteenth president, who is not believed to have had strong views on nanobubble ozone technology.
Crews are expected to begin draining the pool again in the coming weeks. A new coat of paint will be applied. The sun will continue to shine on the water. Officials are said to be cautiously optimistic.