The City Council has come out from behind its closed doors following negotiations over the fate of Waimea Valley, and the news is dismal. Four years after the city's pledge to save Waimea from development through condemnation, our elected leaders are poised to settle for a compromise deal that does not bode well for the protection of this legacy.

Let's hope it's not too late to turn them back from their current course, and urge a careful review of the facts.

The council majority's position is that the deal brokered with landowner Christian Wolffer preserves the familiar section of the valley known to many as Waimea Falls Park.

But what's truly precious about the valley lies not in its familiar aspect but in its once-sacred, virtually untouched upper reaches.

Archaeologist Joseph Kennedy has compiled an assessment of what's known about the valley; some of the highlights were published in the October edition of Natural History magazine.

Kennedy concluded that at least 80 percent of the valley has not even been inspected for archaeological sites, a circumstance he deemed astounding, considering that Waimea has been cherished within the Hawaiian spiritual tradition for 40 generations.

These are the 1,200 acres the council seems satisfied to leave with Wolffer, whose development plans are unclear. Even with its current conservation zoning, he would be able to build eight homes. And once the valley is cracked into segments in this way, any hope of maintaining its wilderness aspect is lost.

The majority of the council fears that a court could side with Wolffer's extremely high land valuation, given recent skyrocketing property values statewide. However, that seems unlikely, given that the valley is still classified as conservation land and shouldn't have accrued the same increases.

Proponents of the deal also argue that the city won't bear the liability for rockslides or accidents in the mauka sections. But that's a weak reason to back away from the preservation goal. The state took over Kaho'olawe, littered with ordnance, and has found a way to manage risks. Surely a safe course can be charted allowing access to Waimea.

It's true the court is likely to find that the value falls higher than the $5.1 million the city initially set aside for its purchase. Even so, this should be seen as an opportunity for a cooperative city-state-private land-trust arrangement rather than as a reason to yield Waimea.

Future generations would condemn us for being so shortsighted with this irreplaceable resource.