Santa Rosa Creek

Santa Rosa Creek. . , Santa Rosa Creek originates in the Santa Lucia mountain range., Restoration of its 47-square mile watershed is an on-going Greenspace priority, including restoration plans, stream bank replanting and repair, removal of barriers to fish migration, and community education. , Santa Rosa Creek offers a wildlife corridor linked to nearby ranchland and forest tracts. This creek provides habitat for wildlife like deer, bobcats, bats and birds, as well as insects and federally protected species like steelhead trout. , Water depth varies dramatically during the year, with winter rains occasionally flooding this site. Summertime creek flow is largely underground, leaving only occasional pools., Late 19th century photographs show little vegetation here, so the creek was usually visible. , Willows were planted later and thrived along with trees and shrubs native to riparian zones in California, such as monkeyflower and ceanothus., Red and yellow plum, walnut, and crabapple trees were likely planted, as was the Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) which is often found at Chinese sites in the West. , Santa Rosa Creek and its banks are an Environmentally Sensitive Area. Juvenile steelhead can be seen in shallow pools, along with other plants and animals., (inset:), Steelhead trout are thriving in Santa Rosa Creek. When enough rain falls and the creek flows out to sea, they leave the freshwater pools they were born in to begin the saltwater phase of their lives. After a few years at sea, these native steelhead return to this very creek to spawn - but unlike other species of salmon, they can return to spawn multiple times throughout their lives.