Just days after completing a renovation project costing more than $13 million, the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool drew attention again after green algae appeared in the water, prompting questions about whether the restoration effort had worked.

According to photographs referenced Monday, visible algae returned shortly after the Trump administration’s renovation project was completed.

But the Interior Department says there is an important detail missing from the initial reaction: the algae seen in the pool are already dead.

An Interior Department spokesperson explained that the newly installed water treatment system—which uses nanobubbler technology—has already done its job by eliminating the algae growth. What remains visible, officials said, is dead material currently being removed as part of the system’s startup and cleaning process.

The department stated that the technology has "successfully destroyed the algae" and that crews are actively vacuuming the remains out of the water.

In other words, seeing algae after treatment does not necessarily mean the treatment failed—a concept that occasionally gets lost in the rush to declare every maintenance project a disaster before the cleanup crews finish cleaning.

Officials described the process as part of bringing the upgraded system fully online and emphasized that removal operations are ongoing.

For now, the administration maintains the renovation is performing as intended, with the treatment system actively restoring conditions in one of the nation’s most recognizable landmarks.

If the process continues as planned, visitors may soon see not algae headlines, but a cleaner and better-maintained Reflecting Pool serving the public for years to come.