The algae won. The National Park Service has drained the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool as part of a two-step process to address algae blooms.

You might see the algae in the Reflecting Pool as a problem, but the algae lobby sees it as a solution.

Despite a $34 million renovation, algae blooms have started appearing in the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool.

Remember all that hubbub about a shiny, black substance which was found in the Anacostia River in mid-August? Well, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, it was definitely just algae.