Washington Post – “With the sun out and Washington’s cherry blossoms at peak bloom, visitors on Wednesday thronged the Tidal Basin, eating picnic lunches and taking selfies beneath some of the Mall’s 3,800 cherry trees. A few yards from the Jefferson Memorial, a pathway that rings the basin was under nearly a foot of water and parts of its concrete wall were crumbling — a reminder that the landmark is falling prey to increased foot traffic, the growth of the Washington region and a changing climate. “In 2019, it’s not functioning the way we need it to,” said Teresa Durkin, the senior project director for the nonprofit Trust for the National Mall. “There is a certain amount of urgency.” Officials from the trust and the National Park Service launched an effort dubbed “Save the Tidal Basin” in a partnership that aims to bring nonprofit organizations and the federal government together to reimagine the area and develop improvement plans that they say could cost up to $500 million…”