Green with envy

Photograph: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Green with envy applies as the Lincoln Reflecting Pool should be blue but isn't, something
most disquieting as the nation moves toward the 250th.

On Wednesday morning, workers poured hydrogen peroxide into the
Lincoln Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC.

The treatment is the latest attempt by the Interior Department to control an algae bloom that has turned the pool bright green, despite President Donald Trump's costly renovation to make it “American flag blue” in time for the nation’s 250th anniversary. Hot temperatures and climate change are among the risk factors that could be driving the outbreak.

The Trump administration spent more than $14 million to update the pool ahead of celebrations
across the US capital. The work was done under a no-bid contract by a company that has never worked for the federal government. (It has, however, worked on President Donald Trump’s golf courses,
according to The New York Times.)

Resurfacing of the Reflecting Pool, April 2026

One of the issues appears to be the water source. The Reflecting Pool usually draws water from the nearby Tidal Basin, which is often filled with algae. During periods with high amounts of algae, the water supply switches to municipal drinking water. The US Interior Department didn’t immediately respond to questions from WIRED about which water source is currently feeding the pool.

Beyond the hydrogen peroxide, the Interior Department is “deploying high-tech nanobubble ozone technology” to keep algae at bay, an agency spokesperson tells WIRED in an email.

Trump has touted the work on the pool, which includes painting it blue and fixing leaks,
while also saying the company the government hired would be able to do repairs
“in much less time, for much less money.”

People spend their afternoon by the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool
in Washington D.C., on June 21, 2020.

Crews clean up algae that began to grow in the Reflecting Pool days after the Trump administration’s $14 million renovation project that repainted the surface “American Flag Blue” on Monday, June 15, 2026.

Josh Morgan, USA TODAY

Time keeps on slippin', slippin' slippin' into the future - Steve Miller