Crews begin cleaning up homeless encampments in the Santa Maria Riverbed

On Thursday, July 25, cleanup crews began disbanding homeless encampments in the Santa Maria Riverbed.

These efforts come after several months of planning, according to county officials.

Santa Barbara County District 4 Supervisor Bob Nelson says 15 encampments received a notice of the clear-out on Monday.

People living in those encampments were offered housing as well as other social services.

Emergency personnel have been responding to issues in the riverbed for quite some time, according to Nelson.

He told KSBY that these issues include disease, crime, trafficking, drug sales, and fires.

"Living in the riverbed, or living outside in general, is not humane for anybody. For too long, we've allowed this to persist right here in our own backyard. I'm really happy to know that we're finally making progress on that today."

Project coordinators say the goal is to return the riverbed to a clean and safe state, and to help those transitioning to more secure housing situations.

County officials plan to enforce the clear-out over the coming weeks to prevent the encampments from re-establishing.