The National Mall Tidal Basin, a cherished part of “America’s Front Yard,” links its historic assets to the American ideal they collectively represent: freedom, democracy, and international cooperation. This complex cultural landscape features memorials to Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, as well as famous cherry trees that blossom each spring.
But this American icon is under threat.
Due to rising sea levels, the silt and water of the Potomac Flats make the Tidal Basin unstable; the conditions they create compromise both historic resources and visitors’ experiences. Each day at high tide, water floods the sidewalks surrounding the Tidal Basin, making them impassable and compromising the roots of the cherry trees.
