State water stewards have continued to permit groundwater pumping south of Denver, despite data and near universal agreement that underground water levels are falling and the resource is being depleted.

Ranchers in Montana has asked a state agency to stop giving away water use rights for tens of thousands of new homes being built in areas once dominated by agriculture. Across the arid West, residential subdivisions and agricultural interests are vying for control of water supplies that have emerged as one of the region's most coveted natural resources.

Court hearings regarding the San Luis Valley’s first water management sub-district plan concluded the first of what will likely be a three-week trial before District/Water Judge O. John Kuenhold.