BATON ROUGE – Those behind cleaning up the University Lakes updated the public on where they are at in the process. During a mini lakes festival, people were able to ask questions and weigh in on what they would like to see.

“It’s just way too shallow, so the dredging would help the community,” said Ryan Clarke, who grew up in Baton Rouge. “They're looking into different trails to use, what kind of materials, different activities like fitness areas, community gardens, all that I think is a good thing."

One of the main goals of the project is ridding the lakes of algae.

“The hope is to really start dredging at the end of this year,” said Anna Cawrse, a landscape architect for Sasaki Design. “We're looking at concepts around the lake edges as well as programming for different nodes around the lakes."

The lakes off LSU's campus are one of the most easily accessible bodies of water for outdoor recreation in the parish. Cody Albright, a conservation manager with BREC, says it's natural for the lakes to fill in overtime, but says the cleanup will greatly improve the area.

"If we want them to be sustainable for long-term use for the next crop of young people coming up. I think it's a good move for us,” Albright said.

The lakes will also be deepened and improved to keep walkers and bicyclists safer. The next step is to refine the conceptual plan, begin design development and dredging.