The National Trail Parks and Recreation District has posted signs at park entrances and around creek areas advising people not to swim there, Director Leann Castillo said. Both the parks district and the Springfield Conservancy District, which is in charge of the waterway, said they were saddened by Collin’s drowning and reminded residents that it’s not safe to swim in Buck Creek.
Monday’s death was the 17th accidental drowning countywide in the past 10 years, according to data from the Clark County Coroner’s Office.
Mary Massie’s son, Christopher Massie, drowned in 2012 just feet from where Collin’s body was pulled from the water Monday. She understands the draw of the creek as a swimming destination because it’s free and within walking distance of many neighborhoods.
But she said people need to realize it isn’t safe.
“The undercurrent is really strong here,” she said as she stood along Buck Creek on Tuesday. “My son weighed 190 pounds and it sucked him under with no trouble.”
The area of the creek where the 9-year-old drowned was converted from a low-head dam into a whitewater feature, said Peter Noonan, president of the Springfield Conservancy District.
Taking out the dam and installing the whitewater feature was done with the intention of making the waterway safer and to be more enticing for recreational activities like canoeing and kayaking, he said.
“The water features remove the hydraulics current that was in place with the low-head dam,” Noonan said. “If someone happened to go in the water it would be less dangerous than the flow the dam created before.”
Springfield police and National Trail officials said swimming in Buck Creek isn’t illegal, but is extremely unsafe, even for the most advanced of swimmers.
“Even well-seasoned canoeist and kayakers who pass along the creek and through the whitewater areas wear helmets and life jackets for safety,” Castillo said.
The area of Buck Creek where Collin drowned is well off any roadway, but Springfield Police Division Chief Stephen Moody said his road patrols regularly check the site because they know it is a popular place to swim.
“We don’t want to arrest someone for trying to beat the heat, but we go and warn them it’s dangerous and to get out,” he said.
No charges have been pressed against an adult family member who was reportedly with the four children as they were playing and swimming in the creek, Moody said. The initial investigation indicates the children went to the creek before the adult came to supervise them, he said.
Evidence will be presented to the Clark County Prosecutor before any decision on charges is made, police said.
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