BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Agricultural interests and residential subdivisions across the arid West are vying for control of water — one of the region's most coveted natural resources.
A recent skirmish involves five Montana ranch owners who filed a petition this week asking a state agency to stop giving away water use rights for tens of thousands of new homes being built in rural areas.
The rules allow small wells used by each house within larger subdivisions to qualify for exemptions from state water laws.
Those laws otherwise give precedence to the "senior" rights of farms and ranches.
That means dozens or even hundreds of homes can be built in the same general area without water permits — and regardless of added strain on underground aquifers.
