Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Enters Fourth Drain Cycle; Experts Say Water Itself May Be The Problem

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In what project coordinators are calling a 'proactive moisture correction event,' federal crews descended once again on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool this week to remove the water from it, which experts say had returned.

'The pool had water in it,' said renovation spokesperson Dale Hurchins, speaking slowly and with great confidence into a cluster of microphones. 'We are addressing that.'

The draining marks the latest development in the Trump administration's effort to renovate the 2,000-foot-long reflecting pool in time for a July 4th deadline, a deadline which has since passed, been revised, and according to one internal memo obtained by this station, 'asked not to be contacted directly.'

We spoke with Dr. Pamela Voss, a hydrologist from a university she asked us not to name, who agreed to explain the situation using what she called 'accessible terms.'

'When you drain a pool,' Dr. Voss began, holding a laminated diagram, 'and then it rains, or water is introduced by any number of means including but not limited to precipitation, groundwater migration, or ambient humidity, the pool may again contain water. This is called water.' She paused to let that settle. 'We are seeing that here.'

When asked whether draining the pool and then filling it again and then draining it constituted a cycle that could, theoretically, continue indefinitely, Dr. Voss nodded for a very long time and said, 'That is one framework, yes.'

Nearby tourists interviewed by this station were largely unbothered. Gerald Fitch of Muncie, Indiana, stood at the pool's edge and looked into the shallow remaining water with what he described as 'no strong opinion.' His wife, Connie, said she had assumed this was normal. 'I thought they drained it every so often,' she said. 'Like a bathtub.'

Project officials pushed back on comparisons to a bathtub, clarifying in a written statement that the Reflecting Pool is 'a nationally significant body of water with deep symbolic meaning' and that its draining should not be characterized as 'a bathtub situation,' 'a puddle situation,' or 'a whole thing.'

As of press time, the water had not commented, though sources close to the water described it as 'aware of the situation' and 'not optimistic.'

Renovation is expected to be complete by a date that officials say will be announced following a series of internal reviews, a scheduling alignment process, and what one source called 'a conversation we're not ready to have yet.'

This is a developing story. The pool is currently damp.