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.By Martha PskowskiIn ‘Ribbons of Green: The Rio Grande and the Making of Modern Albuquerque,’ John Fleck and Robert P. Berrens explore Albuquerque’s relationship to the Rio Grande. The co-authors, collaborators at the University of New Mexico (UNM), chart the history of institutions that changed how residents relate to the river and its physical path through the valley. Fleck and Berrens explain how the Rio Grande was managed to allow ‘ribbons of green’ to run through arid New Mexico.