Metropolitan to begin wetland restoration in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

To address ongoing risks to water supply operations and reinforce its commitment to sustainable land management, Metropolitan's Board of Directors approved last week construction and restoration of approximately 2,800 acres of wetlands and upland habitat on district-owned land in the Delta.

The wetland restoration is part of a larger project to transform Webb Tract, a Metropolitan-owned island in the Delta, from conventional agriculture to a multi-beneficial landscape designed to reverse subsidence and reduce flood risk, capture planet-warming carbon dioxide, and enhance the local ecosystem for migratory birds and local species.

"While members of our board carefully weighed further investments in the Webb Tract project during our deliberations, there is strong consensus that stabilizing the ecosystem in the Delta is paramount to also stabilizing our deliveries of water from Northern California," said Metropolitan Board Chair Adán Ortega, Jr. "The Delta is not the source of our water supplies, but it is the source of our common challenges. The investment in Webb Tract reflects our hope to see longer-term benefits."

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is a critical link in the State Water Project and supports millions of people statewide, a struggling ecosystem, agriculture and local communities, while remaining one of the state's most ecologically altered and vulnerable regions for the last century.

Located in Contra Costa County, Webb Tract is one of four Delta islands currently owned by Metropolitan that were purchased in 2016 in part to prepare for the California WaterFix project. Since the governor's decision in 2019 to not move forward with the WaterFix project, Metropolitan has been working toward determining the potential value and use of the islands in future plans to stabilize the Delta.

Like many islands throughout the region, over a century of conventional dry-soil farming has contributed to subsidence, with some areas as much as 24 feet below sea level. The exposed peat soil also emits greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide.

The construction and restoration of wetlands on Webb Tract can reverse subsidence, sequester carbon and generate carbon credits that can be sold in the carbon market or used to offset Metropolitan's carbon emissions. In addition, Metropolitan has leased more than 2,100 acres of Webb Tract to agricultural partners to cultivate rice, which is grown in wet soil and can slow or stop subsidence.

The Webb Tract wetland restoration and rice conversion project is made possible through a $20.9 million grant from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy, with Metropolitan covering the remaining cost of the approximately $28 million project.

The project is moving on an accelerated timeline thanks to California's Cutting the Green Tape initiative, which streamlines approval of restoration projects that result in long-term benefits to climate resiliency, biodiversity and sensitive species recovery.

"Island subsidence threatens the ability to convey water through the Delta to support nearly 30 million residents and 6 million acres of farmland," said General Manager Shivaji Deshmukh. "Metropolitan appreciates our partnership with the Delta Conservancy to develop one of the first large-scale wetland restoration projects on a Delta island, which can show private property owners in the area the possibilities and opportunities of restoring and protecting their own land."