Water Cycle Restoration & Earthworks Course
Join us for an introductory day of water cycle restoration principles, strategies, & tools. Get a first-hand look at how we manage our water and landscape to enhance our water cycles and climate resilience. Come see some of our strategies, aimed at reversing the human caused negative feedback loop of drought-fire-flood, and learn how to convert desertifying watersheds into hydrating water catchments and wetlands.
Where: Mama Tree is located in Upper Ojai, less than a 15-minute drive from downtown Ojai. Exact address and driving directions will be sent to you upon purchase and registration. Carpooling is encouraged to reduce traffic and wear and tear on the property.
Schedule:
8:45am: Gate Opens
9:00am: Welcome & Open Circle
9:30am: Intro to Water-Cycle Restoration & Earthworks
11:00am: Break
11:15am: Waterwalk & Reading the Landscape
12:45pm: Lunch break (bring your own lunch)
1:45pm: Hands-on practicum
3:00pm: Clean up & tool check
3:15pm: Closing circle & story of the day
3:30pm: Departure
Cost:
$75 - $150 Sliding scale
In an effort to make this workshop feasible for all economic statuses, we are offering this workshop at $75 - $150 sliding scale. Please consider how much you are able to pay when selecting your ticket price. Paying on the higher end of the sliding scale allows us to offer discounted tickets for those in need.
Learning Objectives
Participants will
Learn about hydrological cycles & small water cycles, including biotic pump, hydraulic redistribution, groundwater, evapotranspiration & humidity, precipitation, and bioprecipitation.
Explore reasons for earthworks, including permeable & impermeable strategies, watershed/stream strategies, and water in our landscape (fluvial geomorphology).
Be introduced to check dams, zuni bowls, induced meandering, and one rock dams.
Compare erosion vs. deposition, helicoidal flow in meandering, and hydrographs & hydrographs comparisons (urban vs. forest).
Participate in a water walk focused on strategies, contexts, and catchment calculations.
Learn how to read the landscape, including design & planning process, design considerations, and useful tools.
Practice surveying using laser & A-frame, including contour, freeboard/spillway, slope/grade, and an intro to using Google Earth as a GIS tools.
Apply catchment calculations and spillway calculations.
Engage in ground truthing, test slices, and construction when timed well, including rock check dam construction and spillway construction.
Weather: The event will be postponed in the event of rain.
Please note, this workshop will be hands-one with walking on rough terrain. Please note we are a working farm and are not ADA compliant at this time.
Refund Policy: A 90% refund will be provided upon cancellation if we are notified 1 week in advance (2/14/26 at 9am). The 10% not returned accounts for the Luma processing fee as well as our registration fees. We can provide a refund of 50% up until two days before the workshop begins (2/19/26 at 9am). However, due to preparation expenses, we are unable to provide a refund if a cancellation occurs within two days before the workshop begins.
Details are sent out upon RSVP. We look forward to having you!