Nearly four years after a Cold War-era warship slipped beneath the surface of Little Potato Slough, federal crews are cutting it apart piece by piece, a complex demolition effort aimed at removing the last in a trio of sunken vessels contaminating one of California’s most fragile waterways. Divers worked below the surface this week, carving into the corroded hull of the HMCS Chaleur, a 152-foot decommissioned former WWII Canadian Navy patrol vessel and a later minesweeper following the war that has been partially submerged in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta near Stockton since 2021. … Once the Chaleur is gone, the slough will be clear of major wrecks for the first time in years. But the larger Delta remains vulnerable, with no centralized agency assigned to monitor or prevent vessel abandonment.

Other Delta news:

• The Vacaville Reporter (Calif.): Solano Supes hear Yolo Bypass update