Former Interior secretary Ken Salazar, seated, finalized the Aamodt water rights settlement in March 2013. Photo from Facebook

Commissioners in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, voted 4-1 on August 25 to deny funding for a regional water system that was authorized by a settlement with Pueblo tribes.

The county blamed a trespassing dispute at San Ildefonso Pueblo for their refusal to contribute an estimated $23 million to a system that will benefit communities on and off the reservation. The Bureau of Indian Affairs has accused the county of building and maintaining illegal roads on the tribe's land.

“It shows their inability to act in good faith," Pueblo Gov. James Mountain told The Santa Fe Reporter. "I don’t know what the county’s line of thinking is, but I do know that the settlement agreement is a separate matter versus the trespass matter, and the county appears to have intertwined the two, which is very inappropriate.”

The Interior Department finalized the so-called Aamodt settlement in March 2013. The settlement confirms the water rights of Pojoaque Pueblo, San Ildefonso Pueblo, Tesuque Pueblo and Nambe Pueblo.

Get the Story:
Water for Roads (The Santa Fe Reporter 8/31)
San Ildelfonso and the Santa Fe County at odds over county roads (KSFR 8/29)
County: Water system funds at stake in road disputes with pueblos (The Santa Fe New Mexican 8/26)
Roads fight could throttle landmark Aamodt water deal (The Albuquerque Journal 8/28)

An Opinion:
Editorial: Playing hardball on pueblo-area roads (The Albuquerque Journal 8/28)

Related Stories:
Pueblo tresspassing dispute leads to federal court battle (07/21)
BIA accused of blocking road access on New Mexico reservation (07/02)