BATON ROUGE - Crews were busy working on the University Lakes Thursday, dipping their shovels in and scooping out years of debris and muck from the water.<\/p>\n
Right now, the dredging is a test to see what process will be best to clean up the rest of the lakes.<\/p>\n
Governor John Bel Edwards and Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome were at the scene Thursday to oversee work as phase one of the University Lakes Project continues.<\/p>\n
Edwards says the lakes are supposed to be an asset to Baton Rouge, and right now, they're anything but.<\/p>\n
\"Quite frankly, we haven't maintained them very well, and when they get too shallow, the water quality is poor, and it doesn't support wildlife,\" Edwards said.<\/p>\n
City Park Lake is in the worst shape. If you drive over it on I-10, you can see the water covered in a thick green mat of algae. About two months ago, dozens of dead fish floated on the surface of the lake.<\/p>\n
Edwards says the goal isn't just to make the lakes look nicer, but the project will hopefully also help with flooding a constant concern in Baton Rouge.<\/p>\n
\"If these lakes hold more water, that is less in our neighborhoods,\" Edwards said.<\/p>\n
The project is currently in phase one, but the cleaning is going to be a long process.<\/p>\n
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Link: <\/p>\n
Workers making progress on University Lakes cleaning project - WBRZ<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" BATON ROUGE - Crews were busy working on the University Lakes Thursday, dipping their shovels in and scooping out years of debris and muck from the water. Continue reading