California to turn 2,800 acres of Delta farmland into wetlands and rice fields

California is moving ahead with a major restoration project that will reshape about 2,800 acres of farmland on Webb Tract in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta into wetlands and upland habitat, alongside rice cultivation. According to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy, the project is intended to address decades of land subsidence while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, storing carbon and creating habitat for wildlife. The approximately $28 million project is being supported by a $20.9 million grant from the Delta Conservancy, with Metropolitan covering the remaining cost.Why Webb Tract is being transformedWebb Tract is a Metropolitan-owned island in Contra Costa County, located within the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, a region that supports agriculture, communities and a major part of California's water supply. But the landscape has also been affected by decades of conventional farming.