Charles R. Porter

Charles Porter, PhD, was born in Austin, Texas in 1951 and is a Visiting Professor of University Studies at St. Edward's University. He received his PhD in Economics and Business with Cum Laude distinction from the Universitat Jaume I in Spain.

He researches, writes, and teaches the history of Spanish Catholics in establishing their communities in Texas and western North America with a focus on water as the prelude to community formation. He is an expert on people that formed communities in the southwest borderlands and their influence on Texas law, specifically law relating to water rights, community formation, and real estate transfer. He wrote Spanish Water/Anglo Water (Texas A & M University Press, 2009). His book Sharing the Common Pool: Water Rights in the Everyday Lives of Texans (Texas A & M University Press, 2014) will be available to the public in May, 2014. His passion is field research on the formation and management of the early communities around springs, rivers, and irrigation systems. The focus of his research is to study the historical process of the development of laws, regulations, and management practices pertaining to water allocation including an examination of the ways in which disputes over water rights were resolved either in the courts or by alternative means such as mediation or arbitration. His newest book to be out in the spring of 2018 is Public Water Policies: The Ultimate Weapons of Social Control (Bernan/Rowan & Littlefield, 2018).

Discover more about Porter at www.charlesporter.com .

His journal article "The History of W.A. East v. Houston and Texas Central Railway Company, 1904: Establishment of the Rule of Capture in Texas Water Law or 'He Who Has the Biggest Pump Gets the Water'" East Texas Historical Journal, Volume 50, No. 2, 2012 won the C. K. Chamberlain Award for the best journal article.

His book Spanish Water/Anglo Water won two major awards. In February 2011, it won the Texas Old Missions and Forts Restoration Award for the best history book contributing to the Spanish Colonial period of Texas history. In March 2011, it won the San Antonio Conservation Society's best history book for the years 2009 and 2010. Previously, Porter's article "Queretaro in Focus: A History of the Texas Missions" published in Catholic Southwest Journal, won the Robert S. Weddle Award for the best article in 2008.

Highlights of Work 2013-2014:

Presenter at Enduring Women opening - an exhibit at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum Spring, 2013. Porter co-taught a senior level undergraduate creative research class at St. Edward's University (with Dr. Mary Brantl and Bill Kennedy) in the Fall of 2012 which resulted in an oral history and photography exhibit in the museum. Porter found 15 women living in rural communities around Texas who held onto their family land in the face of overwhelming challenges. These amazing women, ages 60 - 93, found a way to keep heritage family lands in spite of drought, the wildly fluctuating agriculture business, and the relentless onslaught of ever increasing ad valorem taxes to say the least of the challenge of eminent domain in booming Texas.

His new book Sharing the Common Pool: Water Rights in the Everyday Lives of Texans, Texas A&M University Press, 2014 was for the first time available online on April 2, 2014 at the Press website and will be on bookshelves around the country in hard copy in late April. The book was showcased at the Texas State Historical Association Annual Conference in San Antonio on March 6-8, 2014 and also at the San Antonio Book Festival on April 5, 2014.

2013 Winner of the C. K. Chamberlain Award, East Texas Historical Association for “The History of W. A. East v. Houston and Texas Central Railway Company, 1904: Establishment of the Rule of Capture in Texas Water Law or ‘He Who Has the Biggest Pump Gets the Water’.” East Texas Historical Journal, 50th Anniversary Volume.

2013 “Groundwater Conservation District Finance in Texas: Results of a Preliminary Study” Texas Water Journal, Texas Water Resources Institute, Texas A&M University, Volume 4, Number 1.

“General Information on Groundwater Districts and Mandatory Seller’s Disclosure Notices in Texas” for the Austin Board of Realtors Risk Reduction Committee. Written study and presentation resulted in a change in the mandatory forms statewide. Presentation and article resulted in ratified change in the mandatory seller’s disclosure notice for the 10,000 member Austin Board of Realtors.

Panel Chair and Presenter at the World History Association of Texas Conference, March 1, 2014. Paper presented – “Barbed Wire in War: Physical and Social Enclosure in World War I.”

Guest lecturer at the University of Texas School of Law, Edward Clark Centennial Professor Jane Cohen’s WATER LAW AND POLICY: THE INTRODUCTORY COURSE. April 2, 2014.

Guest lecturer at the University of Texas Geology Department Collegium for Dr. William E. Doolittle, Erich W. Zimmermann Regents Professor in Geography – Presentation - “Prelude to Community: Water Development in Spanish Colonial Texas.” September 20, 2013.

Quest Lectures – University of Texas Division of Continuing and Innovative Education at the Thompson Conference Center – Series “Texas Water: It’s Past, Present, and Future” – Porter’s lecture: “The History of Texas Water Law, Policy, and Management” October 3, 2013.

Sage Lectures CE 140001I– University of Texas Division of Continuing and Innovative Education at the Thompson Conference Center – Series “Water in Texas: Good to the Last Drop”– Porter taught 2 of the 6 lectures to an audience of 150. Porter’s topic CE 14001Ia – “Water in Texas: The Common Denominator of Life” and Porter’s topic CE 14001Ic – “Sharing the Common Pool: Water Rights in the Everyday Lives of Texans” September 16, 2013 and September 30, 2013.

Moderator of the Legal Update Panel for The Texas Groundwater Summit attended by 500 at the San Marcos Convention Center, August 28, 2013.

Organizer and moderator at the 5th Annual Lone Star Water Conference in Brenham, Texas attended by 200 sponsored by Texas A&M University, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Texas AgriLife Center Texas A&M University, the City of Brenham – topic a 6 hour presentation and community debate “Should Washington County Have a Groundwater Conservation District” October 5, 2013. Porter selected the presenting attorneys and hydrogeologist and reviewed/edited their presentations. Porter also presented at the conference - “A History of Groundwater Conservation Districts in Texas.”

Keynote speaker at the Bosque County Hay Show in Meridian, Texas – title “Urban vs. Rural: Which lifestyle do Texans choose?” October 21, 2013.

Webinar lecturer for the Texas Wildlife Association – “Who Owns the Water? Sharing the Common Pool: Water Rights in the Everyday Lives of Texans.” Statewide 400+ attendees, January 16, 2014.

Keynote speaker at the upcoming Council of Geographic Names Authorities (COGNA) Conference, April 29 - May 3, in Austin. “Connecting the Dots: How Hard-bottom Fords Mapped the El Camino Real in Spanish Colonial Texas.”

Interview as panel member of Groundwater and Drought in Texas YNN News Austin, October 14, 2013 live television presentation.

Interview for The Texas Tribune by Nina Satija – Surface water rights and the Lower Colorado River Authority.

Panel member and presenter at the San Antonio Book Festival, April 6, 2014, standing room only “Dry Country: Water Issues in Texas” in the Gallery of the San Antonio Public Library Central. Panel members, Dr. Char Miller the W.M. Keck Professor of Environmental Analysis at Pomona College, David K. Langford author and rancher, Charles Porter of St. Edward’s, Moderated by David Ladensohn, the founder and chairman of Water Fund, LP, which invests in western water rights and global water securities. David was previously CEO of KLN Steel Products Co. and a manager for Bank of America in the U.S. and Asia.

Editor of Pangaea Journal, St. Edward’s University – first online volume, to be opened to the public April 15, 2014.

Invited guest at presentation of the Texas A & M University Bush School graduate students Capstone Report on Water Uses in the Eagleford Shale to Railroad Commissioner Christie Craddick with representatives of the Texas Water Development Board, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Attorney General’s Office and other state officials in Craddick’s office upcoming April 25, 2014.

Contributor and editor of a portion of the San Antonio River Missions written Nomination as a UNESCO World Heritage Site “San Antonio Missions: Nomination for Inscription on the World Heritage List for 2014” for the National Parks Service, the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, and the Bexar County Historical Commission in my service as a member of the 12 person International Expert’s Committee. My work on this committee took place in a dozen meetings from the spring 2012 to date in 2014.

Interview in St. Edward’s Magazine, Winter 2013. “A World Without Water” page 8.

Manuscript reviewer of John Williams’ "The Power to Make a Difference" (LCRA history) for Texas A&M University Press, March 30, 2014.

“Ranches in the Wild Horse Desert, a National Register Nomination” at the request of Dr. Patrick Cox. Porter was a contributor and researcher for the nomination. January 10, 2014.

Reviewer of “A Defiant River, a Technocratic Ideal: Big Dams and Even Bigger Hopes along the Brazos River, 1929 – 1958” for the East Texas Historical Journal. March 7, 2014.

Serves on the St. Edward’s University Alumni Board of Directors and Friends of the MLA Program. Hosted Eastern European Guests with Sharyl Cross of the Kozmetsky Center at the Ray Benson Concert, hosted CAMP students for dinner and escorted them to Bishop Emeritus John McCarthy’s Off the Cuff & Over the Collar book signing at Book People, and hosted Bill Tilney (former Mayor of El Paso and American Consul General in Cuidad Juárez) for the University Programs Lecture Series.

Judge of Texas History Day Papers (High school students across Texas compete in this state level entry for the National History Day Awards) at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum coordinated by the Texas State Historical Society. Upcoming May 2, 2014. Third year in a row as judge.