… For Courtland, a 521-person community along the Sacramento River, the Bartlett pear is its core identity, even though it might also be a best-kept secret. … The future of the pear and life in the California Delta region may hinge on the outcome of the ongoing Delta Conveyance Project. … The 45-mile-long and 36-feet-wide tunnel could carry 6,000 cubic feet of water from the Sacramento River every second. Two of the proposed tunnel intakes are just upriver from Courtland near the tiny town of Hood. Last December, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California approved $142 million to fund the project’s planning and pre-construction costs, and earlier this year, Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed fast-tracking it. For many in the Delta, losing their water is a looming concern that’s troubled the region for decades.

Other Delta news:

• Smithsonian magazine: A new generation of tiny tracking tags offers a fresh look at the lives of little fish [Delta smelt]
• The Merced Focus (Calif.): Feds award $93 million to key San Joaquin River restoration project near Dos Palos
• Stocktonia (Calif.): Stockton cleaned up the sunken cruise ship Aurora. Now the city has the final $8 million bill
• California WaterBlog: Microplastic pollution: Impact on the SF Bay Delta and remediation strategies