BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – Comite River cleaning has begun, according to the East Baton Rouge Parish mayor’s office on Tuesday.

Officials said crews recently started removing debris and trees from the river.

“The Comite River drains thousands of homes and businesses on both sides of its banks, including the City of Central, Baker, Zachary and North Baton Rouge,” the mayor’s office said.

City-Parish’s share of this project is funded by the General Fund, officials said.

The mayor’s office said Claycut Bayou, Ward Creek and Bayou Manchac have already been cleaned as part of the City-Parish stormwater initiative. Officials said future cleanup projects include channel clearing along Elbow Bayou and Dawson Creek along the Amite River.

Since the stormwater initiative started in June 2021, 25 million pounds of debris has been cleaned out of 95 miles of storm drains and pipes.