The restoration of a 1000-foot reach of Brush Creek, just upstream of the confluence with Santa Rosa Creek, was completed during 1999. The channel was widened by removing soil from the top of the east bank. Boulders and tree roots were placed in the low-flow channel to create fish habitat, and the bank was revegetated with live and valley oak, California buckeye, big-leaf maple, and a variety of other riparian species. Three years later, the ecosystem supports more riparian vegetation and an abundance of fish and wildlife, including the federally-listed steelhead trout. An interpretive sign and information display is located beside the project, along a bike path. The neighborhood to the east of the project fronts on the creek, creating a sense of the creekscape as an extension of the neighborhood.  City biologists continue to monitor the restoration reach on an annual basis, evaluating project success through permanent photopoints, measurements of vegetation cover and composition, native planting survival, aquatic habitat, streambed surface composition and embeddedness, and presence of macroinvertebrates and fish.  Maintenance of the restoration reach includes continued invasive species removal and care of native plantings.  Madrone Audubon conducts seasonal bird census surveys of the restoration reach. 

Santa Rosa Creek is a 22-mile long steelhead-bearing tributary to the Laguna de Santa Rosa which flows into the Russian River, located in Sonoma County, California. Santa Rosa Creek historically supported an abundant steelhead run as well as coho salmon.

In the downtown area, Santa Rosa Creek was channelized for flood control purposes. Riparian vegetation was removed and the creek was converted into a trapezoidal channel lined with grouted rock rip-rap. The problems facing steelhead through the downtown reach include a lack of variable habitat and high summertime temperatures caused by the grouted rock rip-rap bottom and lack of streamside vegetation. The flat concrete bottom does not contain any areas for water to pool (lowering water temperature), areas for riffles to form (raising oxygen levels), or refugia for fish (such as undercut banks, boulders, and downed logs).

The Prince Memorial Greenway project meets several community needs. First, it provides restoration of steelhead habitat in Santa Rosa Creek through downtown Santa Rosa by creating a defined low flow channel, installing rock wing deflectors and boulder weirs to create pools, riffles and glides, and revegetating the channel bottom and banks. The project is designed to help remediate the known limiting factors of high temperatures and lack of instream cover, allowing salmonids to successfully access 14 miles of excellent habitat upstream.

The Greenway also serves as a linear park and connects downtown Santa Rosa with the historic Railroad Square area. People can walk or jog along the creek, enjoying the plants and wildlife and admiring mural paintings and sculptures along the way. Access is provided down to the water’s edge to encourage exploration and appreciation of this incredible natural resource. Cyclists can use the corridor to travel to and from work, to access western reaches of Santa Rosa Creek or to just explore the City and have some fun.