Hot temperatures plus cool high water equals potential trouble on Clear Creek in Golden
All day long in heat in the 90s, people dipped and tubed and paddleboarded and kayaked in the water of Clear Creek. It is a rare spot in a landlocked state that offers a place to cool off with water in the 50s.
But with heat comes more demand to be there and more potential trouble.
"I got lost a while back and the people I was with. I have no idea what's going on," said Georgia Parker who came to Colorado only a week ago from the West Coast.
At close to 700 cubic feet per second, the creek pushes a lot of water and people around. She had floundered and struggled to the creek bank. "I didn't know how to turn around," she explained.
On Tuesday, Golden resident Dallas Wilson was along the creek as he often is when he helped pull three people – one at first and two soon after -- from the water.
All were in street clothes and had waded into the water when they were knocked into the fast water, over the rapids. The first person, a middle-aged woman, was carried downstream as Wilson, who was in a life vest, worked to catch up with her.
"I was talking to her to make sure that she could nod her head and blink, but other than that it was just holding her." She exhausted. "She could not move or put her feet up to help herself get out of the water."
Soon after as he photographed the creek from the bridge on Ford Street he noticed two more in trouble. "They had their shoes on, they had blouses and denim pants on." He jumped in and helped them reach shore as well.
The creek has a yellow flag warning up, which means moderate to high flows and it is not recommended for children under 18. The city urges people to wear life jackets and use safety gear.
Commercial operations instruct people and provide safety equipment. But the creek is still open to all.
"It's a bit of an art as your trying to control this," explained Golden Police Chief Joe Harvey.
The police and fire chief and deputy city manager make a lot of the practical decisions about openings and closings and what flags to put up.
The water, notes Harvey, is not controlled by the city. There have been big increases in use since COVID and the city is working on adding stickers with computer chips for tubing and putting up solar powered sensors along the creek to measure use.
The city had hoped to have the systems going by early July, but it is still working on it. From there it may set new policies.
There have been no drownings yet this year. But the danger is constant and with higher flows from big rains and snows there is definitely concern.
Wilson sees people going over chains meant to restrict areas and thinks education might help, especially for those from out of state.
"Just kind of educating people on what the water can do to their feet and their body mass," he suggested. "There's more cubic mass being moved than a lot of people weigh in that same spot."
