"Less than a month after reopening, the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is full of algae, a sea of green overshadowing the nearly two-year, $34 million renovation of the famous site.""This is a direct consequence of the fact that this is a green project,” said spokeswoman Carol Johnson. “The conditions are pretty good for algae, once it gets in there.”Visitors to the pool described it as similar to “split pea soup,” “muddy,” like the “surface of the moon” and “icky-looking.”
“It doesn’t look like a $34 million circulation job,” Jim Carroll, 85, of Wisconsin said as he looked out over the pool....
“It doesn’t reflect well on the city at all,” Carolyn Rossinsky, 49, of Miami said as she sat near the pool.
“It looks like green fluff,” she added.You wanted green... and you got it.
June 7, 2026
Live feed of the filling of the Reflecting Pool.
AND: I just made a tag for "Reflecting Pool" and added it to old posts in the archive. The oldest post is striking. It dates back to the Obama administration, September 26, 2012:
Posts
91 comments:
The colloquial sense of "so miserable as to be ridiculous" is attested by 1937.
- etymonline.com
Emphasis on pathetic.
Blue sheen.
If being empathetic means having the ability to understand, share, and resonate with another person's emotions from their point of view, that's beyond difficult, at least for me. Too much water under the bridge.
Why the rush to judgement? The pertinent question is: what will it look like in a year or so? Will the sealant stop the leaks or not, and for how long?
The fact remains that a no-bid contract was awarded on dubious, if not outright fraudulent, grounds. There was no emergency that justified circumventing the normal contracting process. You all used to be so concerned about corruption, yet you are letting Trump and his family get away with massive corruption.
…demanding the universe and expecting compromise will get you the world is no way to negotiate..
Looks great, and the price was great. People complaining about the price are mad because they can’t grift off the American people.
The internet informs me that there is no official rule or restriction against skipping stones in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C. The pool is a public water feature, and visitors are generally free to play in it, including skipping stones, as long as they follow basic safety and etiquette rules.
There was no emergency that justified circumventing the normal contracting process.
Based on what we've learned in recent years, normal contracting processes in the government would have delivered a Quality Learing Reflecting Pool.
I honestly did not expect this much presidential focus on the reflecting pool.
Trump spends a lot more time talking about the things he's "fixing," like the reflecting pool and the ballroom, than the critical things he has broken, like the flow of petroleum products to the world.
No Freder, it's not the "rush to judgment" that bothers you and your team, it's the rush to completion for a reasonable price that used to be how this country was run before your team took over. If your team was still in charge, it would be 2029 before they even got around to the bidding process and the concocted conditions that would only award to a firm majority owned by albino Muslim wymyn.
They like 'rage and ruin" murders and rapes, is what they crave
"Why the rush to judgement? The pertinent question is: what will it look like in a year or so? Will the sealant stop the leaks or not, and for how long?"
Read the September 25, 2012 Washington post article linked in the updated post. The Obama administration spent $34 million to deal with the ugly green algae and the refurbished pool had just reopened on August 31st, and "Visitors to the pool described it as similar to “split pea soup,” “muddy,” like the “surface of the moon” and “icky-looking.”"
That sets a low bar! But Trump must do far more than just do better than Obama before you will ever approve of anything he does.
You're stressing the leakage, which has been a problem for the entire 100 years of the pool's existence. That's so you can distract from the improvement in the look of the water, which was the focus of this cheap fix and was also Obama's focus.
Albinos are rainbow equivalent but coherent.
That pool needs some sort of sprinkler/aeration system -- maybe one that runs at night so that the pool remains calm/reflecting during the day.
A Reflecting Pool. Some see how beautifully it reflects the sky and the historic monuments. Some see their own reflected fear and anger.
Abort! Abort! Wait, it's a viable and beautiful feature with that newborn blue sheen.
See, Trump is not Hitler. At heart he's Napoleon III, a builder and improver. Now he even has his own war debacle that should end his reign.
Obama was our first green precedent.
So we sailed up to the sun,
Till we found the sea of green,
And we live off all the grift
In Obama’s submarine.
CC, JSM
From the 2012 WaPo article: "Less than a month after reopening, the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is full of algae, a sea of green overshadowing the nearly two-year, $34 million renovation of the famous site.... Officials are working to remove the algae by increasing the level of ozone in the water to treat what is there and prevent more from growing. The agency plans a one-time removal of the algae, but first the ozone level needs to be fine-tuned...."
There was no emergency that justified circumventing the normal contracting process.
I would be interested to know what constitutes a reflecting pool emergency.
I'd say the 250th anniversary of our nation constitutes a matter of some urgency, even though, no, nobody would have been in danger from a gross reflecting pool. And remember the cost estimates given by the Proper Authorities? Were the Properly Vetted Reflecting Pool Contractors going to beat the cost for which this project has actually been done?
"... full of algae, a sea of green overshadowing the nearly two-year, $34 million renovation..."
As we live a life of ease (a life of ease)
Every one of us (every one of us)
Has all we need (has all we need)
Sky of blue (sky of blue)
And sea of green (sea of green)
In our yellow (in our yellow)
Submarine (submarine, aha)
Empathetic to those with TDS?
NEVER.
That's so you can distract from the improvement in the look of the water, which was the focus of this cheap fix and was also Obama's focus.
I forget where I said that Obama's project was successful and a wise use of government funds. Can you provide a link where I lauded Obama's renovations?
I'm glad you think $13 million (seven times the price Trump claimed when the project started) is a "cheap fix". You are using a pretty scene to cover up the administration's corruption in awarding these contracts.
Obama never built a in his life before becoming President. He was all talk.
But FF see every reason to doubt the builder president. “ The fact remains that a no-bid contract was awarded on dubious, if not outright fraudulent, grounds…”.
It’s a fact, says FF. A fact. A FACT!
Were the Properly Vetted Reflecting Pool Contractors going to beat the cost for which this project has actually been done?
Which is the whole point of having a public, open, bidding process? Not the president calling some pool contractors in Florida.
I still wish they had cleaned it up, painted the bottom, treated the water, installed lane lines, and let visitors buy a daily swim pass to swim laps outdoors, weathe r permitting... MAHA.
It’s a fact, says FF. A fact. A FACT!
Rather than just whinge, why don't you explain what is untrue about my statement?
I flew home from DC on Thursday morning. We just missed the completion of the Reflecting Pool project.
I guess the blue (rather than black) base still makes the pool reflecting. Democrats are still upset, of course.
So even by the standards you arbitrarily set for Obama, we should wait a month before lauding Trump.
Wage growth is at 3.4%, while last month’s inflation came in at 3.8%—with next month’s figure expected to rise to 4.2%.
This is what ultimately killed support for Biden: a sustained net loss in living standards. Even though inflation has eased over the past year and a half, slightly reversing some of the damage, voters never forgave the earlier erosion of their purchasing power.
Trump is unlikely to gain popularity from the current situation either. Meanwhile, JD Vance is intervening in British politics—presumably because he’d rather not focus on U.S. domestic issues or the foreign policy problems in the Middle East created by the Trump administration.
I wonder how high inflation must rise to change this. If a short military excursion can be extended to four months, why not even longer?
It could have been worse. It could have been contracted with dark reasons and DEIst (e.g. racist, sexist, etc) provisions.
Curious why a well-executed repair garners so much angst by some while they are silent on the massive Medicaid and Medicare fraud going on all across the country.
If the Belagio in Las Vegas can manage to have their reflecting pool look beautiful indefinitely AND also put on spectacular water-spraying shows that not only aerate the water but also attract people from all over the world to come and watch, why can't the national reflecting pool? President Trump, please call your buds in Vegas and make it so. And keep Freder whining.
Obama was a community organizer, not builder.
If the Belagio in Las Vegas can manage to have their reflecting pool look beautiful indefinitely AND also put on spectacular water-spraying shows that not only aerate the water but also attract people from all over the world to come and watch, why can't the national reflecting pool?
Because the reflecting pool is 2000X200 feet and only 18 to 30 inches deep. It is practically begging for algae blooms.
"So even by the standards you arbitrarily set for Obama, we should wait a month before lauding Trump."
Your question contains an assumption: I did not laud Trump. I only asked a question: "Can we all just say it looks beautiful?" You tell me: Here it is, in the present, can you not say it looks beautiful? It's a question about how it looks now. It doesn't presume that it won't go bad soon (or later). It doesn't mention Trump. It's a test of your level of Trump derangement.
How did you vote on the poll?
Medicaid and Medicare fraud
40 trillion dollars in indefinite extractions.
Freder Frederson said...
There was no emergency that justified circumventing the normal contracting process. "
He wanted it done before the 250th Anniversary so it would look nice for the celebration. You know the same actions reserved for Chicomms by the left.
Its a rorschach test and freder losf
Never mind, Trump still has the FIFA World Peace Prize.
Freder Frederson said...
I forget where I said that Obama's project was successful and a wise use of government funds. Can you provide a link where I lauded Obama's renovations?
Democrats are just dishonest pieces of shit and they can do nothing in good faith.
I thought that #2 was just snarky, until Freder showed up. Get help, man.
Sometimes I think Althouse is conducting an anthropological field study when she offers one of her multiple choice polls.
We math majors used to sit around in what we deemed was our "student lounge" playing bridge or D&D or just killing time, which made us a convenient stationary target for roving psych majors armed with their obnoxious questionnaires. One or two would breeze in every day using copious flattery to get several of us to agree to take a questionnaire and return it completed in a few days. The psychs had their fun by getting us to supply them with data to plot on a graph, and we had ours by answering the questions in the persona of some odious figure from history or legend to skew the psychs' analytics strongly toward one end of the curve or the other. Shits and giggles all 'round.
So what are Althouse's shits and giggles? To shoehorn her respondents into categories occupied by psychotics on the one hand and imbeciles on the other?
Billions spent in California for a couple of miles of train track completed over a decade, but they complain about a few million spent on a beautification project that was identified and completed within a year. This isn’t a case of sweating the small stuff to avoid big problems. It is about who benefits, and it isn’t Democrats; therefore they hate it.
Spiffing up the capital for the 250th, while not an emergency, is a significant event that justifies such high-impact projects.
The last administration should have had all of this in place…but didn’t.
Trump spends a lot more time talking about the things he's "fixing," like the reflecting pool and the ballroom, than the critical things he has broken, like the flow of petroleum products to the world.
Remember a month ago when you were absolutely certain that Trump had fucked up the reflecting pool and it was going to look like a giant swimming pool?
Does it ever occur to you that there may be things going on that you neither know nor understand?
Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...
Wage growth is at 3.4%, while last month’s inflation came in at 3.8%—with next month’s figure expected to rise to 4.2%.
I love the "expected to rise" stuff.
You are a retarded clown who hasn't been right about anything.
You are just here to use numbers that don't exist and pretend we aren't laughing at you.
Freder is incapable of saying it looks good.
His hallucinations grow more vivid
…since the fuel at the pump price is falling…quickly and deeply, they can’t use the ‘gas prices are bankrupting families’ bludgeon anymore…
Prior to Trump's intervention, the Park Service was considering spending in the range of "over $100 million" to "over $300 million" dollars to do a renovation that was expected to take years.
Trump's project include specific measures for mitigating algae growth including upgraded filtration and ozone treatment.
Seems like it's worth a try to do it Trump's way.
Achilles, we are overdue the starvation riots in China you so confidently predicted would be happening by now.
Perhaps you should pay attention to your own clear predictions before throwing shade at others.
Some people are immune to reflection.
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having thought it was Trump's fault.
Is it productive to try empathizing with someone who is proudly irrational? There is nothing to be gained by someone with a train of logic like:
(I hate Hitler) + (Hitler loved dogs) = I hate dogs.
The reflecting pool needed work, so President Trump went to a company that uses sophisticated materials and techniques to renovate the reflecting pool. The project was quick and inexpensive. None of that is crazy.
A wait-and-see attitude is sensible. A let's-not-maintain-our-stuff attitude is not.
Seems like it's worth a try to do it Trump's way.
They can’t. Even the dumbest businessman in the world is a threat to expose their incompetence and to their phony baloney jobs…
It doesn't mention Trump. It's a test of your level of Trump derangement.
And yet you have two Trump tags on this post.
How did you vote on the poll?
I didn't. I don't participate in any of your surveys.
I'm glad you think $13 million (seven times the price Trump claimed when the project started) is a "cheap fix"
…to these people billions to stop government from cutting off trillions in corruption? a-okay!! $13 million to renovate an historic American landmark? Waste! Corruption!
I don't know the details, but a salt-water chlorinating recirculation system with skimmers at reasonable intervals would take care of the algae concerns. I suspect that Trump and the pool contractor know that and have installed something like that.
Ah ha!
Google AI tells me that Green Water Solutions was awarded a $1.7 million contract to install a "recirculating system" using "nano-bubble" technology.
Google AI also says of "nano-bubbles" that:
Aquaculture & Ponds: They are heavily utilized to maintain high dissolved oxygen (DO) levels in aquaculture tanks and natural water bodies, reducing harmful algal blooms and preventing the buildup of bottom muck.
This is not rocket science. Even WaPo reporters can find this information quite easily.
It's very pretty. I reserve "beautiful" only because I haven't seen it in the flesh.
I do have concerns about no-bid contracts (if indeed this is one) and I do think they should be absolutely transparent and easily accessible to the public, on general principle. And I do think that President Trump spend sa bit too much public time talking about non-core responsibilities such as this. I'd like him to focus a bit more. I am a bit concerned about that, though decidedly not obsessed or all het up about it.
If something, at least in a video or picture, looks pretty and appropriate to its setting and purpose, why not just be able to say so? Not everything has to be a stepping stone to political commentary or grievances.
And it's great that a fix has been applied to deal with the blooming algae and whatever other issues. Overdue, in fact. I say let's be patient and see how it goes. Give credit where credit is due, and if something changes, deal with it then.
Just my several cents.
"How did you vote on the poll?"
"I didn't."
Told ya. He can't do it.
A leftist goes to a retired law professor’s blog. The professor thinks xir might be obsessed with Trump. She posts a picture of the Reflecting Pool during renovation and asks “What do you see?”
“I see Trump destroying the Reflecting Pool.”
“And this” she asks as she posts a photo of the completed Pool.
“I see Trump corruption.”
“And finally this one” she says posting a third.
“I see Trump. Trump Trump Trump Trump Trump!”
“I think you might be obsessed with Trump,” the professor says calmly.
“Why?” Xir asks. “You’re the one who keeps posting pictures of Trump!”
"Prior to Trump's intervention, the Park Service was considering spending in the range of "over $100 million" to "over $300 million" dollars to do a renovation that was expected to take years."
$13M is a bargin.
Told ya. He can't do it.
"Can't" and "didn't" are two different things. "Won't" would be closer, but still inaccurate.
Mark said...
Achilles, we are overdue the starvation riots in China you so confidently predicted would be happening by now.
Perhaps you should pay attention to your own clear predictions before throwing shade at others.
China already surrendered retard. Trump is letting them play in their lane.
Russia is consolidating in Ukraine and hasn't lifted a finger in Iran.
Everything happened just as I said it would.
The only holdouts are in Britain France and Germany. And that isn't looking good for your globalist masters is it?
You are just too stupid to understand what is going on.
Historians will say it was a reflection unlike any other reflection.
The project does not address the failing underground pipes that supply and circulate water to/from the treatment system. These pipes frequently crack, forcing disconnections from the filtration plant for weeks at a time. This leaves the root causes of poor water quality and algae largely unresolved, potentially limiting the long-term effectiveness of the new waterproofing and coatings.
Reports (including a detailed NYT overview) note that broader plans to replace the pipes exist and were hoped to start in fall 2026, but they were not part of this urgent renovation. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/05/31/us/trump-reflecting-pool-problems.html
The current work targets visible leaks and appearance but leaves the plumbing issues unaddressed, which will likely allow ongoing water quality problems.
I have a 2000 gallon pond in my back yard with live plants, fish, turtles frogs, etc. It's fully exposed to the Las Vegas sun, and in summer the water is about 90 degrees. Unaddressed it would, in just a few days, turn into one large green blob of death. I have no filtration other than a screen to protect the fountain pump from debris. The pump runs 24/7 and the bucket where the pump sits has a 36 watt UV light on continuously. I have no algae problem year round. Cost = about $14/ month. This includes having a contiguous 1800 gal/hr fountain of water. They should install UV lights. It would look cool at night too.
Freder Frederson said...
Told ya. He can't do it.
"Can't" and "didn't" are two different things. "Won't" would be closer, but still inaccurate.
Freder is just a dishonest piece of shit. He builds a completely delusional view of the world because at his core he knows he is no better than any fascist foot soldier in any of the regimes of leftist murder muppets that parade through history.
Freder dances when Charlie Kirk is killed.
Freder celebrates when Trump is removed from social media.
Freder cheers when peaceful J6 protestors are jailed and persecuted.
Freder nods in approval when BLM thugs rape inner cities and burn down small businesses.
Freder silently shuffles to the back when Trump gets shot and curses his bad fortune that Trump survived.
Put Freder in China and he is a red guard. He is a black shirt in italy. He is a brown shirt in germany.
He can't be honest about anything because the truth is so ugly.
China surrendered, Achilles?
And your proof of this is what?
The line of coke you just did? Your overinflated ego?
What do you think the vote would be among Democrats if on a secret ballot they could remove Trump, but only by agreeing to it being illegal vote fraud? How many would vote for assignation? That's why our elections are not secure. That's also why I'm no longer a Democrat, and still embarrassed that I was.
Bureaucrats love the process. The process exists for their sake. They exist for the sake of the process.
That the process results in spending 10 to 30 times as much tax money and taking 10 to 30 times longer is completely irrelevant.
The process is the most important thing. Whether the pool got fixed or not is a minor matter because either way they have a process that must now be followed.
This link says it all
this link says it all
test
Trump might be wrong on tariffs, and the roulette ball is still spinning in Iran. There are lots of places where Trump's judgement does not inspire absolute confidence. One area where he is obviously and definitely better than his predecessors is building and construction. That's his wheelhouse. You can win a debate on quantum physics at Cambridge with Mike Tyson but not a boxing match inside a ring at MSG.
Mark said...
China surrendered, Achilles?
And your proof of this is what?
The line of coke you just did? Your overinflated ego?
Are there any Chinese missiles going to Iran?
Are there any Chinese ships in the Strait of Hormuz?
Has China shipped any support to the Mullahs over land routes?
Did China buy planes from Boeing or Airbus?
You are a retard. You listen to the leftist media propaganda and have no ability to think for yourself.
You are constantly shocked when everything turns out just as I said it would.
Gas fell 20 cents a gallon out here this week. Every year after the first week of September the driving season ends. Can you people even think a day in the future?
You can't even remember what happened yesterday. You are the demonstration of how stupid you have to be to support the Democrat party.
which will likely allow ongoing water quality problems.
Hope springs eternal.
Someone above mentioned Napoleon III. He's now an obscure figure, but Paris remains the City of Light and that's mostly because of him. In other areas, he was more a monumental failure than a monument builder, but his vision of Paris endures...... I think Trump should be given a free hand with his construction projects. He knows what he's doing.
How much water does your pond lose to evaporation oh bag oh water?
Stupid that that Trump's opponents have decided to this hill to die on. There are so many other targets that would resonate with the voting public.
"Wait, you can fix things without a $452m study to determine if we should perform a $36m environmental impact study before awarding a $875m contract to do what some pool guys did for $3m?"
Dems live and breathe to waste our money.
There are so many other targets that would resonate with the voting public.
Agree with you 100%. However, Althouse gets quite upset if you go off topic, and she tends to only write posts that make Trump look good.
"How much water does your pond lose to evaporation..."
All of it, eventually. Seriously though, I did track it once and it was about 100 gallons a day. Theoretically it could be as high as 200 on a hot windy day or less than 20 in the winter. I have an automatic filler. I also have a huge pool that loses way more, and and outside jacuzzi. If it was easy or free, I would scrap the pool, which we really enjoy in summer, but is just too much work and expense year round. I do use too much water this way, but I try to make up for it. I removed 100% of my grass, and 15 trees. I only have a few trees and cactus now all on drip irrigation.
I noticed FF doesn’t describe the letting, bidding and contracting process for the last cleaning. He simply assigns ill motives to Trump without evidence. Oh well that’s. He’s the same fool that insists all wars are illegal.
I noticed FF doesn’t describe the letting, bidding and contracting process for the last cleaning.
Apparently, When Althouse posted about the problems with the 2012 cleaning, I did indeed defend Obama. She has a much better memory than me.
Take all the “deeply troubled” by the rancid scruff of their scrawny pencil necks and hold their misshapen melons under the cool waters until they find the peace that has escaped them for their entire, miserable lives.
Poor Freder - how dare anyone try to make Trump look good.
Must stay Religiously loyal to Trump-hate - 100% of the time.
The democrat party is the slime that lines the bottom of the old reflecting pool.
Corrupt money grubbing money wasting liars - all.
Will we soon see a “Rush to Begrudgement”?
Post a Comment
Please use the comments forum to respond to the post. Don't fight with each other. Be substantive... or interesting... or funny. Comments should go up immediately... unless you're commenting on a post older than 4 days. Then you have to wait for us to moderate you through. It's also possible to get shunted into spam by the machine. We try to keep an eye on that and release the miscaught good stuff. We do delete some comments, but not for viewpoint... for bad faith.