Denver’s southern suburbs, dependent on shrinking supplies of groundwater, could get a new surface water supply as soon as 2015, heading off the specter of expensive water bills choking off economic growth.

Weld County commissioners have asked Colorado Attorney General John Suthers to reconsider his staff's conclusion that Gov. John Hickenlooper doesn't have the legal authority to allow South Platte River Basin farmers to pump water from an underground aquifer onto their drying-out fields.

U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner urged U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Tuesday to consider issuing a federal disaster declaration for drought-affected Colorado counties.

Senate President Brandon Shaffer wrote Governor John Hickenlooper asking the Governor to declare a state of emergency and to immediately overrule the stay that is prohibiting the use of irrigation wells for grain and vegetable crops.

More urgency is needed when it comes to planning new water-supply projects, and water conservation isn't the silver bullet to solve future shortages in the South Platte River Basin, where reused water is an essential supply source downstream. Those were two focal points of discussions at the four-hour South Platte Basin Roundtable meeting Tuesday night.

A new study by the Water Research Foundation projects potential climate change impacts to Front Range water supplies for the next few decades, showing that the total amount of water in several key river basins could decline significantly if temperatures continue to rise.

Arapahoe County has purchased the rights to thousands of acre-feet of agricultural water in northern Colorado, marking its first foray into the region and adding another chapter in the battle between farmers and cities for future water security.

Marc Arnusch sees no need to downplay the significance of the water rights policy. “We took the most powerful step on water we’ve made in a while,” the Weld County farmer said earlier this week, referring to the Colorado Farm Bureau supporting a policy that would give more flexibility to the Office of the State Engineer in controlling the state’s water resources.