Prior to the 2010-2012 renovations, it was filled with municipal water, and leaked 500,000 gallons a week, it lacked significant plumbing systems, and had to be drained twice a year and cleaned. It used about 30 million gallons of treated drinking water a year. It also lacked key accessibility features, like paved paths around the pool.
The renovations cost upwards of $34 million. They got the pool off of municipal water and connected it to the tidal basin. They made the pool shallower to use less water, and painted the bottom of the pool a darker color to enhance its ability to reflect the monument.
They didn’t manage to fix all the leaks but who cares when the water comes from the tidal basin that it leaks back into?
I think Trump is doing this to try to step on Obama’s accomplishments while giving hand outs (no bid contracts) to cronies.