Since 23-year-old Tony Garcia drowned June 26, the National Park Service, local law enforcement and James City County elected officials have been discussing ways to address visitor safety at College Creek.
Unpredictable currents along the sandy beach — which stretches between the Colonial Parkway and historic James River — have claimed five lives in the past 20 years, according to National Park Service Chief Ranger Steven Williams.
But when it comes to the issue of public safety at the beach, the Park Service is in a bind. Williams said the National Park Service does not have the ability – by either issuing fines or citations – to remove people from the water at College Creek.
“We do have the ability to go say ‘Hey, it’s not safe for you to be in the water’ and encourage them to get out,” Williams said. “But to clarify, we don’t have enforcement authority. The water is the jurisdiction of the state.”
Colonial National Historical Park Superintendent Kym Hall said the park service could close off College Creek all together, but is trying to find other ways to prevent another loss of life.
“Closing the area to everyone is not always the solution,” she said. “Our responsibility is for all of our visitors. For us, there’s the opportunity to mitigate risk rather than close it off to the whole public.”
Williams said the park’s efforts to educate visitors and mitigate risks at park locations have been ongoing over the years, especially as park visitation increases.
But Garcia’s drowning jump started another wave of conversation about keeping College Creek visitors safe.
The park service and other agencies are brainstorming more effective ways to educate visitors on the risk currents at the river pose, such as posting warning signs in multiple languages, different terminology on the signs and educational programs.
The two most recent drownings at College Creek involved men who spoke Spanish, although Hall said she “didn’t want to make assumptions or jump to conclusions” about the drownings.
“I can’t imagine what this young man’s family is going through,” Hall said of Tony Garcia’s drowning. “If there’s anything that can come of this, it’s hopefully that we can try to make sure it doesn’t happen to someone else.”
