Lincoln reflecting pool algae infestation returns (VIDEO)

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is looking more like split pea soup these days. The culprit? Green algae.

A thick layer of muck has settled over the iconic Washington, DC, landmark less than one month after it reopened following a two-year, $34 million renovation project, the Washington Post reported.

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Low ozone levels in the water are to blame, and the National Park Service is working on a plan to raise them.

But that plan will have to wait until officials are certain the algae won't bloom again, UPI reported.

In the meantime, visitors are stuck with gloppy mess. One told the Post it looks like the "surface of the moon."

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“It doesn’t look like a $34 million circulation job,” 85-year-old Wisconsin tourist Jim Carroll said.

The problem is the city stopped using its municipal water supply to fill the pool, instead relying on a tidal pool basin. But because the reflecting pool is a smaller and shallower water source, algae cells bloom more easily there, The Huffington Post reported.

“This is a direct consequence of the fact that this is a green project,” National Park Service spokeswoman Carol Johnson told the Post. “The conditions are pretty good for algae, once it gets in there.”