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John Fleck

@jfleck.bsky.social
1.9K followers 220 following 304 posts

Writer in Residence, Utton Center, University of New Mexico School of Law. Writing a book about the Rio Grande and the making of Albuquerque. People pay me for sentences - "a curious guy with good typing skills".

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Reposted by John Fleck
Luna Lapidary @lunalapidary.com · 29/09/2026
I also have a bunch of fused glass pendants using cabochons from @nora.zone . When I was teaching myself how to do netting wraps, their fused glass cabs were perfect test subjects. This one is not a netting wrap, but almost all of the other ones are. www.lunalapidary.com/product/auro...
lunalapidary.com
Aurora Borealis
A fused glass cabochon from Nora Reed Designs, wrapped in silver plated copper wire. An adjustable leather cord is included, or you can purchase a chain from the Chains section of the store.
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Sarah Elizabeth Cox @oispooky.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
All truth passes through three stages: First, it is ridiculed; Second, it is violently opposed; and Third, it is 4 for £1.00.
Sign in a Clacton charity shop which reads Books 99p each. Fact based books 4 for £1.00
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John Fleck @jfleck.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Hey Albuquerque peeps, come hear me Friday, Sept. 25, 12:30 p.m. at the Guild talking about my new book "Ribbons of Green"! www.inkstain.net/2026/09/albu...
inkstain.net
Albuquerque, come see me talk “Ribbons of Green” at the Guild Sept. 25, 12:30 p.m.
My Utton Center posse is throwing a book launch party Friday (Sept. 25, 2026, 12:30 p.m.) at the Guild in Nob Hill. When we were conjuring up a title over the summer, we came up with “A conve…
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John Fleck @jfleck.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Still do.
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John Fleck @jfleck.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
We’ve got a podcast! We’ve got (well, at least briefly we had) a river! We recorded a podcast about the river! www.buzzsprout.com/2465964/epis...
buzzsprout.com
Water Update (09/09/26) - Water Matters!
A River (Ever So Briefly) ReturnsThis week’s water update is a special edition as Rin Tara and John Fleck take you out to the Rio Grand in Central Albuquerque to experience the brief return of the Rio...
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John Fleck @jfleck.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
A remarkable experiment underway today on New Mexico's Middle Rio Grande: www.inkstain.net/2026/09/chas...
inkstain.net
Chasing the water
At 2 p.m. Monday (Aug 31, 2026) the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority, along with the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District and Audubon Southwest, began releasing a pulse of wa…
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Hannah Weinberger @trailanderror.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Spelling it “Ŵâshîngtôn” so people know we have more mountains than D.C.
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Christopher Witt @msbbirds.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
New Mexico rare birds never cease to amaze — South Polar Skua at 7000 feet elevation, eating trout 🤯 ebird.org/checklist/S3...
ebird.org
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Jonathan Thompson at the Land Desk @landdesk.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
With Lake Powell reaching its lowest level since 1968 (when it was still being filled), I dive into the hydropower implications as it approaches minimum power pool (i.e. de facto dead pool). www.landdesk.org/p/glen-canyo...
landdesk.org
Glen Canyon Dam hydropower: What's it good for?
Plus: A deeper look at the West's energy mix
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John Fleck @jfleck.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Our bosque, the Rio Grande's riverside forest through Albuquerque, is dying: www.inkstain.net/2026/08/rapi...
inkstain.net
Rapid dieback in Albuquerque’s Rio Grande bosque
Albuquerque’s bosque has been suffering a rapid dieback, as shallow aquifers drop away from the roots of the community’s beloved cottonwood gallery forest. This is uncharted territory f…
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John Fleck @jfleck.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
I shall not hang my Rio Grande/Colorado water supply hat upon the Super El Niño hook, which looks small and risks my hat ending up on the floor. www.inkstain.net/2026/08/supe...
inkstain.net
“Super” El Niño meh in the Rio Grande and Colorado River headwaters?
The latest European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts got some ink/bits for their strong forecast for a wet winter in California (h/t Daniel Swain), but what do they say for us? Sorry for t…
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Meade Krosby @meadekrosby.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
I work at the intersection of the climate and biodiversity crises, so I especially value actions that support adaptation and mitigation AND conservation, e.g.,: Expanding urban tree canopy, green roofs, rain gardens, etc. to mitigate heat and flooding, sequester carbon, and provide habitat.
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Martha Pskowski @psskow.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
As a Supreme Court settlement forces New Mexico to reduce water use on the Rio Grande, local stakeholders are seeking a collaborative solution. My latest in @insideclimatenews.org insideclimatenews.org/news/1907202...
insideclimatenews.org
The Clock Is Ticking for New Mexico to Cut Rio Grande Water Use - Inside Climate News
For now, the state is counting on voluntary cuts among vegetable and pecan farmers. But that might not be enough.
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Luis Villa @lu.is · 19/07/2026
The information world PageRank created was a pretty nice one in a lot of ways. It also was not a natural law. It was created by humans, ruined by humans, and will be replaced by humans. We can try to participate in that or we can sit it out.
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John Fleck @jfleck.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
On tending our gardens - fun switchup from our usual schtick, my podcast co-host Rin Tara in conversation with me about the new book Ribbons of Green: www.buzzsprout.com/2465964/epis...
buzzsprout.com
15: John Fleck on Tending the Middle Rio Grande Garden - Water Matters!
In this week’s Water Matters, John Fleck switches from the host’s chair to the guest’s chair (it’s really the same chair) as co-host Rin Tara sits down with him to talk about the new book he and Bob B...
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Sammy Roth @sammyroth.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
The last time Lake Mead and Lake Powell had this little water in them combined, Lake Powell didn't exist yet. Meaning all the water was in Lake Mead. Harrowing stuff. www.inkstain.net/2026/07/a-gr... via @jfleck.bsky.social
inkstain.net
A grim Colorado River milestone
On Sunday, the Colorado River passed a grim milestone. Total combined storage in Lake Mead and Lake Powell dropped to a historic low. It was my Wilburys colleague Jack Schmidt who noticed the miles…
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Daniel Swain @weatherwest.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
There are growing indications that large, intense, & perhaps record-breaking mid-atmospheric high pressure system (aka a "heat dome") will develop somewhere between Rockies & Central Plains by mid-Jul. This could bring a widespread & severe heatwave across much of the U.S.
Map from ECMWF ensemble showing predicted 500mg GPH anomalies in mid-July. A massive ridge is depicted, centered near Colorado but extending from California to the Ohio River Valley.
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John Fleck @jfleck.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Currently 85 miles of river drying on New Mexico's Middle Rio Grande. a) That's a lot. b) We literally pay people to go out and look at the river every quarter of a mile (? I think this is the right spacing. ?) to see if the river is dry. What a weird job.
Column chart showing maximum extent of annual drying on New Mexico's Middle Rio Grande since 2002. 2026 is the highest column on the chart at 85 miles.
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Martha Pskowski @psskow.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
“When you’re in a community, and you want to try to understand the nature and the structure of the community, you can always start with the water,” says author @jfleck.bsky.social @insideclimatenews.org insideclimatenews.org/news/2606202...
insideclimatenews.org
A New Book Tells the Story of Albuquerque Through the Rio Grande - Inside Climate News
In “Ribbons of Green,” John Fleck and Robert Berrens examine the institutions that turned a rural valley into modern Albuquerque. Their new history comes as the city contends with a drying Rio Grande.
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Martha Pskowski @psskow.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
I interviewed author @jfleck.bsky.social for @insideclimatenews.org about his new book "Ribbons of Green." We talked about why this history matters. "Right now, in Albuquerque, we’re at a very similar juncture to where we were 100 years ago," Fleck said. insideclimatenews.org/news/2606202...
insideclimatenews.org
A New Book Tells the Story of Albuquerque Through the Rio Grande - Inside Climate News
In “Ribbons of Green,” John Fleck and Robert Berrens examine the institutions that turned a rural valley into modern Albuquerque. Their new history comes as the city contends with a drying Rio Grande.
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Chuck Arning @arning.com · 21/06/2026
My 06/21/26 postcard features a cormorant we found perched on a sun-bleached log at Tingley Beach. Standing motionless above the water, it seemed completely at ease, watching for fish with a calm, attentive gaze. #Albuquerque
My 06/21/26 postcard features a cormorant we found perched on a sun-bleached log at Tingley Beach. Standing motionless above the water, it seemed completely at ease, watching for fish with a calm, attentive gaze.
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John Fleck @jfleck.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
thread
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Luis Villa @lu.is · 09/06/2026
Bookshop.org is amazing because they build software for public good without accepting compromise: it has to be every bit as good as the alternatives. So I regret to inform that if you excitedly pre-order a friend’s book, Bookshop will happily let you do that repeatedly without a warning 😂
Three pristine paperback copies of John Fleck’s “Ribbons of Green”, stacked on each other in a fan, suggesting that the photographer was over enthusiastic in preordering the brand new book.
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Morgan Sjogren @morgansjogren.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
It’s telling that even @jfleck.bsky.social is burning out in Colorado River Basin dysfunction & is turning his “attention to the local level, which is where the problem solving responsibility seems to rest right now.” Gulp. 🚰🚱🥃🔫🌊
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World Bollard Association™️ @worldbollardassoc.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Only bollards can deliver this much happiness. #WorldBollardAssociation
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University of New Mexico Press @unmpress.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Available from UNM Press, online retailers, and at Bookworks tonight for a book talk with the authors! www.unmpress.com/978082636968...
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University of New Mexico Press @unmpress.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Happy Pub Day to John Fleck and Robert Berrens, authors of Ribbons of Green: The Rio Grande and the Making of Modern Albuquerque, which explores how Albuquerque built its environment to create a valley floor that its residents have come to adore and how, in a climate-altered world, we might keep it.
Book cover of Ribbons of Green: The Rio Grande and the Making of Modern Albuquerque, by John Fleck and Robert Berrens. A new book from UNM Press.

Newx to the cover is a blurb about the book: “Envisioning the Rio Grande’s future in a warming world means reckoning with the past. Fleck and Berrens delve into the historic systems and rules that shape the river as it flows—and sometimes dries—through Albuquerque today. And they help us all consider the collective action river governance requires.”—Laura Paskus, author of At the Precipice: New Mexico's Changing Climate
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the Mountain Goats @themountaingoats.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Oh whaddaya know, our video for “Charlie Sheen Reaches Out to the Feds” is out. Directed by my old friend Tim Kirk (Room 237) — Tim Is the best and I love how this came together youtu.be/7PEJmPTIzqk?...
youtu.be
the Mountain Goats - Charlie Sheen Reaches Out to the Feds (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by the Mountain Goats
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John Fleck @jfleck.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
1965 Albuquerque Tribune with headline reading "Rio Grande Reaches Record Levels Here" and picture of high water flowing under a bridge.
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John Fleck @jfleck.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
One last gasp: www.inkstain.net/2026/05/2026...
inkstain.net
2026-05-19: Federal managers increase release for the silvery minnow
Federal water managers yesterday (May 18, 2026) began pushing a pulse of water through New Mexico’s rapidly drying Middle Rio Grande to try to encourage the endangered Rio Grande silvery minn…
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Mount St. Helens Archive @mountsthelens1980.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
May 18, 1980 | 8:32 a.m. The ground shudders. A M5.1 quake hits beneath Mount St. Helens. Weakened critically, the north face bulge collapses outward. Within seconds, a pyroclastic density surge bursts through the disintegrating slope. The clock strikes zero.
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Chuck Arning @arning.com · 18/05/2026
My 05/18/26 postcard is a fairy scene tucked into a yard along Solano, built against the base of a tree like a hidden doorway into another world. The tiny blue door, mushrooms, glass stones, and fairies transformed a patch of dirt into something that felt halfway between a garden and a storybook.
My 05/18/26 postcard is a fairy scene tucked into a yard along Solano, built against the base of a tree like a hidden doorway into another world. The tiny blue door, mushrooms, glass stones, and fairies transformed an ordinary patch of dirt into something that felt halfway between a garden and a storybook. I reworked the background and processed the image as a painting to finish the piece.
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JBV @jverheul.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Looks like an orange slice in his right hand as he holds the bars with just his pinkie on that side.
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John Fleck @jfleck.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Crossed the threshold yesterday from "pdf(s) on my hard drive" to "book in my hand": www.inkstain.net/2026/05/june...
inkstain.net
June 2, Bookworks
I was sitting on the front porch early this afternoon with my eyes on the street when the postman come up the front walk holding a book-shaped package. I walked up to him, reached out, and held it …
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John Fleck @jfleck.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Friends of Inkstain John Berggren and Kevin Wheeler suggest a new widget for moving around Colorado River water that's one of those things that's got obvious advantages, it's simply archaic rules standing in the way: www.inkstain.net/2026/05/the-...
inkstain.net
The Utility of Operationally Neutral and Flexible Conservation Pools in the Colorado River Basin
Nota bene: A guest post from friends of Inkstain John Berggren and Kevin Wheeler John Berggren (Regional Policy Manager, Western Resource Advocates) Kevin Wheeler (Principle, Water Balance Consulti…
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MoMA Paintings and Sculpture @moma.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Ivo Pannaggi, My Mother Reading the Newspaper, c. 1922 botfrens.com/collections/14377/cont…
Gift of Mario da Silva
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John Fleck @jfleck.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
This is, as the kidz say, *load bearing*. bkwrks.com/event/2026-0...
bkwrks.com
Writing the Wild: John Fleck, Ribbons of Green: The Rio Grande and the Making of Modern Albuquerque
A local, independent bookstore in Albuquerque, NM since 1984. Bookworks offers new books, children's titles, gifts, and a variety of special events.
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Peter Brannen @peterbrannen.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Sorry if this news screws anything up for anyone, but it turns out that rivers during the Cambrian period didn't wind as much as they do today pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulle...
pubs.geoscienceworld.org
Low sinuosity meandering rivers before vascular plants: Cambrian Tapeats Formation, Arizona, USA | GSA Bulletin | GeoScienceWorld
Abstract. A longstanding view is that rivers in pre-Silurian landscapes, prior to the colonization of continents by land plants, were braided and that
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Matthew Hurteau @mhurteau.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
This is a perfect example of a fire where we should NOT risk human life to suppress. This area has seen lots of fire. This fire will probably clean up a bunch of heavy fuel from the W-B. Upwind of this fire are a whole bunch more fire footprints.
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Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
my latest books cartoon for @theguardian.com
Two hooded figures with lamps approach a moonlit, isolated cottage.
A woman answers the door.
We have come for the child, says the hooded figure
So soon? she asks
It is time, says the hooded figure.
The woman is distraught. We should never have got him a library card!
What is done cannot be undone, says the hooded figure
We couldn’t see the harm! We just wanted him to enjoy reading! 
For most, it ends there, says the hooded figure, turning away and walking into the wilderness
Oh lord, What have I done! says the woman,
the child walks past her and out into the darkness with them.
Do not cry mother. 
I am a writer now.
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World Bollard Association™️ @worldbollardassoc.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
It’s so important to know your bollard history. #WorldBollardAssociaton
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JBV @jverheul.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
This lovely old Ford Ranchero was parked outside my office last week.
A multicolored Ford Ranchero in a parking space.
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John Fleck @jfleck.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
As our new book emerges into the world, I'm engaged in the exercise of peering through the complexity of what we're trying to say in search of the simplicity: www.inkstain.net/2026/04/its-...
inkstain.net
It’s a city book
A friend who has been part of the Ribbons of Green brain trust for the last six years reminded me over a taco truck library bench lunch today about the expectations I confront as the book emerges i…
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nora "the tea kobold" rude (they/them ze/hir) @nora.zone · 02/01/2026
dad put this in the family gc and i explained the tradition of labeling all animals dogs in elden ring
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John Fleck @jfleck.bsky.social · 02/01/2026
I’m not an animal expert, but I’m pretty sure these aren’t dogs.
Chain link fence with “Beware of the dog” sign, a field beyond full of sandhill cranes.
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John Fleck @jfleck.bsky.social · 29/12/2025
Gettin' realer! www.inkstain.net/2025/12/ribb...
inkstain.net
Ribbons of Green, now available for pre-order
We need a tl;dr here, because I’ve got three or four different versions of this post on my hard drive half written, or in my head, half written. Actual publication as a physical object you ca…
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nora "the tea kobold" rude (they/them ze/hir) @nora.zone · 25/12/2025
one of my family members is a former professional cook who worked on british canal boats so she made us "Elizabethan casserole" and it slapped
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Matthew Hurteau @mhurteau.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
Hard to beat slick rock and ocotillo
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nora "the tea kobold" rude (they/them ze/hir) @nora.zone · 13/12/2025
i think these are fine
the space looking hearts sit on a paper towel but there's a lot missing that I need to recast. they look nice though
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