Some good Colorado River news, some bad news, and a request for help

Posted by jfleck on 18 June 2026, 2:46 pm

A grab bag from my friends and colleagues working on Colorado River issues…. The good news From friend of Inkstain Karl Flessa (the guy who helped get me started thinking about the Colorado River Delta), a new analysis concluding that despite the terrible hydrology and political difficulties, environmental restoration work in the delta is working: …

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“big messy community conversations”

Posted by jfleck on 5 June 2026, 4:50 pm

I made a brief stop at a dry Rio Grande main channel this morning, around the Central Avenue Bridge, before I pointed the Space Ghost southwest into the South Valley. The Arenal Canal, which hugs the sand hills on the valley’s western edge, was flowing, but just 25 cubic feet per second. 100 cfs is …

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Colorado River Basin – new report from my colleagues on the implications of running on empty

Posted by jfleck on 1 June 2026, 10:34 am

Bob and I got our pictures in the paper!

Posted by jfleck on 31 May 2026, 6:13 pm

Going through our chaotic collection of old maps at the H-F house, I found a treasure: 2003 BLM map of Albuquerque and vicinity that I’d used to mark a bunch of bike rides with highlighter. Pre-GPS era. I’ve been at this for a long time. My favorite social media response to the announcement of our …

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2026-05-19: Federal managers increase release for the silvery minnow

Posted by jfleck on 19 May 2026, 5:53 am

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 minnow to spawn. From a note sent ’round to the Bureau’s water management list yesterday by Carolyn Donnelly, water operations supervisor for the bureau’s Albuquerque …

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Why our ribbons are still green, but with a dry river at their heart

Posted by jfleck on 13 May 2026, 4:17 pm

The Farmers Almanac Says We’re Gonna Have a Wet Summer

Posted by jfleck on 10 May 2026, 12:40 pm

Quoting Matt Webb

Posted by jfleck on 8 May 2026, 4:46 am

Incidentally GTA6 is coming out in November and apparently it cost $1 billion to make. Gonna play the heck out of it not just for the music but because of its status as a cultural artefact: the final big game built before LLMs. No-one will ever invest that much in a game again, no software …

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June 2, Bookworks

Posted by jfleck on 6 May 2026, 2:10 pm

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 in my hands. The kind folks at Bookworks and the Leopold Writing Program, with some help from …

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The Utility of Operationally Neutral and Flexible Conservation Pools in the Colorado River Basin

Posted by jfleck on 5 May 2026, 6:31 am

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 Consulting) 5/5/2026 As everyone is well aware, the snowpack and associated runoff this year are truly awful. It will be one of the worst, if not worst, on record. …

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jfleck at inkstain

A few thoughts from John Fleck, a writer of journalism and other things, living in New Mexico

Archive of entries posted by jfleck