It's safety first before splashing in Clear Creek

The City of Golden is allowing people to use Clear Creek for water recreation but to do so safely. Part of that is understanding how powerful the water can be.

"It's not a lazy river. It doesn't have a smooth glass or tile bottom, it has jagged boulders that are often slick and it's hard to get footing. We just want you to know that one of the primary safety hazards is if you get off your tube and go swimming is that this was basically snow yesterday and it's very cold," said Golden Fire Chief Jerry Stricker.

Golden has a flag system in place to show the flow of the creek. On Tuesday, it was moderate which is considered unsafe for children. Earlier this month there was a red flag warning in place and tubing was off-limits in the creek.

Glass bottles and single-use plastic containers are banned on the creek.