Colleague and friend Don Schwindt, a longtime DWCD board member, worked with Porter for two decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was a great teacher for me, a true gift to the community,\u201d Schwindt said. \u201cJohn was a very innovative manager. He worked with the board as a team and could facilitate compromise when there was a strong difference of opinion. The project lives and breathes because of him, and he gets a ton of credit for making it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Colleagues last week recalled when Porter stepped in after Montezuma and Dolores county farmers became alarmed at the cost of McPhee water, an obstacle that threatened to derail the project.<\/p>\n
He held meetings with farmers that ended in a deal with the Bureau of Reclamation to delay water payments until newly irrigated lands were well in production.<\/p>\n
The compromise provided farmers the chance to build revenue for the water payments. And as water was delivered from McPhee storage, former dryland farms became verdant with irrigation for the first time during periods of drought.<\/p>\n
As general manager, Porter also set up an organization capable of operating the brand-new project.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was very sharp, an administrative genius,\u201d Preston said. \u201cHe created a system of water accounting spreadsheets, budgeting and processes out of blue sky, and they are still used today.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a member of the Southwest Water Conservation District Board for 27 years, Porter also was instrumental in building consensus that allowed the Animas-La Plata Project, which created Lake Nighthorse in Durango, to be built.<\/p>\n
While serving on the SWCD board, Porter initiated a grant program that continues to provide vital help to water-oriented entities throughout Southwest Colorado.<\/p>\n
While his priority was securing McPhee water for agriculture and domestic use, Porter also understood the importance of recreational boating and the native fishery below the dam, his daughter Porter-Norton said.<\/p>\n
He was a key player of the Dolores River Dialogue, a diverse stakeholder group that figures out how to best manage dam releases allocated to help native fish.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe forum brought DWCD and scientists together to find the best solutions for the releases. He always worked toward finding solutions without compromising his principals,\u201d Porter-Norton said.<\/p>\n
Negotiations for the Dolores Project and Ute Indian Settlement Act were intense and required a lot of lobbying in Washington, D.C., Schwindt recalled.<\/p>\n
A favorite memory was in the mid-1980s when Schwindt, Porter and DWCD board members Dopey Butler and Bruce McAfee were on a sparsely populated flight to Washington to lobby for a critical portion of project.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were huddled together at the back of the plane strategizing, talking shop, making sure we got our message right, and didn\u2019t realize we were supposed to get back to our seats for landing. The stewardesses just laughed and said they enjoyed watching our intense conversation. That is so typical of what we did. We were all dead serious.\u201d<\/p>\n
Porter picked up his work ethic and diplomatic talent from his father, Charles Porter, who ran a family farm in Lewis, was a state senator, Montezuma County commissioner and the first DWCD administrator.<\/p>\n
After Charles Porter was killed by lightning while irrigating fields in 1980, Porter became the first full-time general manager for DWCD. He held the post for the 22 years.<\/p>\n
Porter-Norton, a newly elected La Plata County commissioner, continues the family\u2019s tradition of public service into a third generation.<\/p>\n
Her background as a moderator at water meetings is rooted in her upbringing, and bodes well for a career in politics.<\/p>\n
\u201cI take to heart how my dad looked for ways to find common ground, how he respected people and stood up for what he believed in,\u201d she said. \u201cLike he did, I also value research and studying topics before making an opinion in order to better understand where the solutions are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Porter served on many boards, including Montezuma Valley Irrigation Co., Southwest Basin Roundtable and Empire Electric Association. He also served a term as president of Colorado Water Congress.<\/p>\n
In 2000, he was awarded the 20th annual Wayne N. Aspinall Water Leader of the Year Award by the Colorado Water Congress.<\/p>\n
Shortly before his passing, the Colorado State University Water Resources Archive compiled an oral history of Porter<\/a>, as part of collection of prominent Colorado water professionals.<\/p>\n Once it is safe to have gatherings again, the family plans to have a memorial celebration for Porter at, of course, a spot that overlooks McPhee Reservoir.<\/p>\n