# Ryan Christopher Jones | NYT Opinion: The Otherworldly California Waterway That Keeps Exploding Into Politics March 17, 2025 The Department of Anthropology at Harvard University is pleased to share that Graduate Student [Ryan Christopher Jones](https://anthropology.fas.harvard.edu/people/ryan-jones) recently published a guest essay in NYT Opinion. The piece, titled “The Otherworldly California Waterway That Keeps Exploding Into Politics,” discusses the politics of the so-called California “water wars” in the California Delta, Jones’s field site. An excerpt from the essay: > I was born and raised in Fresno, two hours south of the California Delta but close enough to feel its iconic breeze. Growing up there meant that drought touched everything, which eventually led me to document the ways that [water](https://ccij.io/article/where-is-the-water-going/) — or [its absence](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/25/us/corcoran-california-sinking.html) — has shaped the [cultural identity](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/11/us/sikh-american-farmers.html) of inland Californians. > > When I first visited the Delta in 2023, I was shocked by how otherworldly it felt in comparison with the arid flatlands of my hometown. At a marina in the city of Isleton, I watched herons and egrets nest atop eucalyptus trees along the riverbank. I saw cargo vessels chug through the Delta’s deep water channel while fishermen cast lines from its shores. In this ecosystem of tidal marshes, wildlife and lush vegetation, water is a livelihood, not just a resource. > > But I also saw signs of decline: long-abandoned boats and deserted marinas suggested something significant had been lost. And pipes, tunnels, aqueducts and canals across the wetland landscape reminded me that the water from this place is not just for this place. How much can be taken before it’s gone? Read the full essay [here](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/10/opinion/california-delta-water.html). Share on:- [ Facebook ](#) - [ Twitter ](#) - [ Linkedin ](#)