There is a terrible disconnect in democracy when you don't have an active press asking questions of county, state and federal government officials, especially when their actions affect the lives of thousands of citizens.

Nothing could be truer than in the Aamodt case. For the very first time in the history of negotiations, during which a gag order was insisted upon by the federal government on behalf of the pueblos, negotiations have been open to the public. Lawyers for the different parties involved and the public, including the press, were invited to attend a meeting on April 19. This was a historic session; a landmark day indeed, and sadly, not one reporter, television crew or other media source attended.

The settlement "agreement" is a document that has not been finalized, despite the fact that outrageous media publicity has insinuated that the legislation and appropriations in Washington had concluded the Aamodt ordeal. Nothing could be further from the truth, but you'll never hear about it because the media prefer fluff like Donald Trump vs. reality.

The Aamodt settlement will affect thousands of taxpayers in Santa Fe County and could alter a lifestyle that has endured for centuries before the pueblos discovered gambling casinos, golf courses and other related types of development that are water-intensive. The reality is that there is no valid settlement. Disclosure: I am among the many defendants in the case.

While the media assumed there was a settlement because Congress passed legislation appropriating millions of dollars for it, the reality is that the previous "settlement" is being altered to fit the funding legislation. And the only parties that prematurely signed the now invalid settlement were some local governmental entities. The "final" settlement has yet to be signed by the defendants who must agree to a number of conditions that only a water lawyer can understand — leaving hundreds of defendants who have no legal counsel dependent on the intentions of the lawyers who drafted the "settlement."

The legislation itself required certain conditions to be met before construction of the controversial pipeline and diversion can begin. Some 2,500 acre-feet of water rights for the pueblos and 1,500 acre-feet for the non-Indians must be acquired and transferred to the point of diversion for the system. It is questionable whether that will happen. There are time limits in the legislation as to when the construction must be started and completed.

There are questions regarding that timetable as well as questions about the makeup and authority of a board that eventually will govern the "pipeline." There are also questions as to whether the state of New Mexico in its fiscal condition can come up with the millions required for its share of the deal or whether the new administration wants to, being that the immediate use of the "pipeline" goes to the Indian casinos that are making millions in profits a year but are not contributing a cent to the cost of the pipeline.

One observer has said, "The only sections favorable to the non-pueblos were omitted from the legislation, thereby possibly negating the entire settlement. In my humble opinion this is a disgrace and a complete waste of more than five years of negotiations. And millions of dollars of taxpayer money."

Another observer I recently interviewed stated that the county has no design for the system. And in fact the county was sent some 20 questions regarding the system, i.e., the pipeline, etc., on Feb. 28 and still has not responded to them.

The sad reality is that, because of drought and global warming and continued growth and abuse of water, our most precious resource, all governmental parties including the tribes should be uniting to protect and conserve this limited resource — not fighting over who is going to get the most of it and for dubious reasons at best. Do we need more golf courses and more resort casinos in our arid Southwest?

For some of us who have participated on and off during so many years this settlement has been in progress, it tries even the most patient and intelligent persons with its legalistic minutiae and maneuvering. This revamp is no less trying, and the one good thing is that at least it's out in the open, even if the media prefer Donald Trump to reality.

Writer/historian Orlando Romero may be reached at nambe1@aol.com