The Comite River begins in East and West Feliciana parishes and joins the Amite River just north of U.S. Route 190 between the eastern boundary of Baton Rouge and Denham Springs. Its basin combines natural areas with human-influenced conservation and commercial areas formed from rock and sand mining. Parent soil materials along the Comite include quartz and sand crystals, differing significantly from the alluvial mud of the Mississippi River Basin and suggesting that the Comite’s watershed is that of the Appalachian Mountain Range. For this reason, the Comite’s banks and riverbed were heavily mined for gravel and rock used in local construction projects. Today, one large abandoned mining pit serves as the Blackwater Conservation Area, and its excavations form most of the open water there. Increased urbanization and development within the Comite floodplain have led to repeated flooding events with increasing damages. In August 2016, rainfall exceeding 20 inches in and around the Comite watershed caused significant flooding in several parishes, resulting in loss of life and property.