Ripping a page out of the playbook the Los Angeles Water & Power Department used to desecrate the Owens Valley to try and quench its insatiable thirst for water, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is buying up land in San Joaquin County.

The deal for five Delta islands — Webb Tract, Bacon Island, Bouldin, part of Chipps Island and most of Holland Tract — could line the pockets of Swiss mega-corporation Zurich Insurance Group with as much as $240 million.