Black Oak Ranch Water Conservation Project
This project built a pond and water tanks to use at an organic farm and summer camp while protecting summer streamflow for juvenile salmonids.
In 2025, Salmonid Restoration Federation completed a large-scale flow enhancement and water storage project at the beloved Black Oak Ranch in Laytonville, CA with funding from the Wildlife Conservation Board’s Streamflow Enhancement Program. This exciting project includes four 200,000 gallon rainwater catchment tanks totalling 800,000 gallons of potable water and a four-million gallon pond for Irene’s garden and facility irrigation.
The two integrated water storage systems address Black Oak Ranch's water usage. The Camp requires high-quality water that can be used for drinking water and bathing use by the camp facility. This will be achieved by capturing rainwater and stream water from Streeter Creek during the wet, winter season and storing the water in steel tanks before passing it through the existing treatment facility to meet State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) drinking water standards. Irene’s Garden is a small-scale organic farm that requires water for summer irrigation. The farm and camp landscape do not require such high-quality water and thus can be stored in a pond.
The tanks and ponds combined allow Black Oak Ranch to forbear from diverting water from Tenmile and Streeter Creek which will increase instream flows and provide better habitat for salmon and steelhead. The project included many ancillary benefits including forest thinning for fire protection and to create the flat for the tanks, an upgraded water treatment facility, the pond storage and associated pumps and diversion infrastructure.
The pond was filled primarily with rainwater by early January, 2026 and the drinking water treatment updates will be ready before the Black Oak Ranch spring and summer programming which includes the Women’s Herbal Symposium and Camp Winnarainbow.
This project involved many years of planning by Eel River Recovery Project with support from the State Coastal Conservancy. Implementation partners include Black Oak Ranch (the Hog Farm), SRF, Stillwater Sciences, Village Ecosystems, American Tanks, Van Meter Construction, Thomas Gast & Associates, Edwards Excavation, and many more local project partners.
Black Oak Ranch Project Photos
Restoration Partners
Salmonid Restoration Federation
The mission of Salmonid Restoration Federation (SRF) is to promote restoration and stewardship of California’s native salmon, steelhead, and trout populations and their habitat. To accomplish our mission, we have been working since 1986 to advance the art and science of habitat restoration for California’s precious salmonid species. We provide crucial educational services for landowners, community-based restoration organizations, consultancies, and state and federal agencies. SRF is the project manager of this planning grant.
Stillwater Sciences
Stillwater Sciences specializes in science-based, technical approaches to natural and water resource management. Using a collaborative and targeted approach, we integrate habitat and species information to understand critical ecosystem processes and identify effective measures for restoring and managing rivers and their floodplains as functioning ecosystems within the context of current conditions and future climate change. We work closely with our partner clients, including agencies, industry, and non-governmental organizations, to provide the technical information you need to make scientifically sound management decisions. Stillwater Sciences is the scientific lead on this project.
Village Ecosystems
Village Ecosystems supplies services related to sustainable development, including rainwater catchment, greywater, earthworks, bioengineering, watershed restoration, and stormwater. They are very familiar with the regulatory framework for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, California State Water Boards, Army Corps of Engineers, and county permitting.
Black Oak Ranch
Black Oak Ranch offers group accommodation and event hosting in two facilities, Streeter Creek (summer home to Camp Winnarainbow), and Ten Mile (site of Kate Wolf Memorial Music Festival, the Hog Farm Hideaway, and The Days Between). We also offer group camping in our Ten Mile Facility.
