Workers pressure wash the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool as it slowly fills with water in Washington, D.C., on June 5. Days after refilling the pool, algae began growing in the water. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
Just in time for America's 250th birthday, the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool received a new paint job. But days after the pool was refilled, an unwelcome green sludge began taking over the new blue surface.
Now, National Park Service crews are working to control what experts say was likely an inevitable problem: a large algae bloom on the National Mall.
University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science professor Patricia Glibert studies phytoplankton, or algae, and how nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus can fuel growth. She told AccuWeather that algae is a natural process and is found nearly everywhere.
"Every body of water from the smallest pond to the biggest ocean has algae," Glibert said.
