A burst of cherry blossoms decorates the panorama of Washington, D.C.’s Jefferson Memorial and Tidal Basin, the 107-acre human-made reservoir that helps control water that rushes in from the nearby Potomac River during high tides. But the Tidal Basin’s surrounding sea wall had been crumbling for decades, allowing river water to flood the historic walkway beneath the famous cherry trees twice a day, damaging their roots. And due to billions of dollars in repair backlog, the National Park Service did not have the money to fix this and hundreds of other American landmarks. This spring, the Tidal Basin was restored thanks to funding from the bipartisan Great American Outdoors Act passed in 2020, which The Pew Charitable Trusts’ restore America’s parks campaign worked to support. The Tidal Basin restoration also included plantings of some new cherry trees that bloom slightly earlier than the ones gifted to the U.S. by Japan in 1912.
The Pew Charitable Trusts
Trust Article
June 30, 2026
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