California farms become wetlands to slow land sinking
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The Nature Conservancy purchased land in California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and converted it from farmland back into wetlands.
For centuries, the Delta was a wetland with carbon-rich peat soil, but farming practices starting in the 1800s drained the land and caused it to sink. Draining peat soil releases carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, and lowers the land’s elevation. The Conservancy flooded thousands of acres to create rice paddies and restored other areas as wetlands.
Sydney Chamberlin of the Nature Conservancy explained that rewetting the land will help slow the release of carbon dioxide and halt land subsidence. The project aims to benefit both the climate and local wildlife by creating habitats and food sources. The islands in the Delta currently sit 10 to 25 feet below sea level.
