Interior Department compares Reflecting Pool algae to Iran’s navy

Administration Interior Department compares Reflecting Pool algae to Iran’s navy Comments: by Max Rego - 06/18/26 12:29 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Max Rego - 06/18/26 12:29 PM ET Comments: Link copied

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The Interior Department on Thursday touted the renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool by comparing algae to the Iranian navy.

“The advanced nanobubbler technology very effectively killed the algae that has plagued every Lincoln Reflecting Pool reopening—most infamously [former President] Obama’s reopening—since 1922,” the department’s press team wrote on social platform 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—just like the destroyed Iranian Navy resting on the bottom of the Persian Gulf,” the department added.

In the early weeks of the U.S. war against Iran, the forces of the U.S. and Israel hit more than 60 Iranian ships, U.S. Central Command head Adm. Brad Cooper said in March.

Days after the $13 million-plus renovation of the Reflecting Pool finished, it turned a shade of green due to an algae bloom. The Interior Department’s press team noted Thursday on X the vacuuming of the pool “is the final maintenance step” after refilling it and “will be complete in a few days.”

The department also shared a photo of the pool appearing blue and added, “Already, the section of the Reflecting Pool closest to the Lincoln Memorial has been vacuumed up, and the beautiful American Flag Blue coating on the bottom of the pool can be seen clearly.”

The Hill has reached out to Interior for specifics regarding the timeline of the vacuuming, and whether the department anticipates future algal blooms.

A federal contract, which cost more than $1.7 million, between the Interior Department and Green Water Solutions states the nanobubbler technology is intended to help weed out the algae by cutting down on its food supply.

Algae have been present at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool since it opened in 1922 and have impacted the site since then, including after renovations finished during the second Obama administration.

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