John Fleck
Director of Water Resources, Department of Economics | University of New Mexico
ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ River Research Group

Research Interests & Background

A former science journalist, John Fleck is focused on the problems of the ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ River, an imperiled water source on which 40 million people in the United States and Mexico depend. As a Professor of Practice in Water Policy and Governance in the University of New Mexico Department of Economics, he co-teaches classes in contemporary water policy issues, modeling, and technical communication for water managers. He served as director of the University of New Mexico Water Resources Program from 2016-21, and is now Writer in Residence with the Utton Transboundary Resources Center at the University of New Mexico School of Law. He first wrote about water in the 1980s as a beat reporter covering the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. He is the author of the books Water is for Fighting Over and Other Myths ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ Water in the West, an exploration of solutions to the ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ River Basin’s water problems, and co-author ofÌýScience Be Dammed: How Ignoring Inconvenient Science Drained the ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ River.

Selected ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ River Publications & Presentations

Publications

Jones, Benjamin A., and John Fleck. .ÌýScience of the Total EnvironmentÌý712 (2020): 136490.

Fleck, John, and Anne Castle. Green Light for Adaptive Policies on the ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ River. Water (2022) 14(1), 2;Ìý

Kuhn, Eric, and John Fleck.Ìý. University of Arizona Press, 2019.Ìý

Fleck, John.Ìý Island Press, (2016).

Castle, Anne and Fleck, John, The Risk of Curtailment under the ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ River Compact (November 8, 2019). Available at

Jones, Benjamin A., and John Fleck. "Urban Trees and Water Use in Arid Climates: Insights from an Integrated Bioeconomic-Health Model."ÌýWater Economics and PolicyÌý4.04 (2018): 1850022.