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Few things generate a more emotional response from Treasure Coast residents than flack about water.

Water we drink. Water we use for waste. Water we need to drain. Water we need to hold. Water we fish, dive, surf, hunt and swim in. Water we boat and live on.

That's why one news item last week got my dander up.

The St. Lucie County Reservoir situated on Ten Mile Creek is ready to come online — depending on whom you ask. The Army Corps of Engineers has shined up the keys to the new car and is more than ready to turn it over to the South Florida Water Management District.Sure, it's an old Buick of a reservoir, but hey, it will really come in handy in these parts.

Only trouble is, the SFWMD wants a Bentley.

So here we sit — you and me outdoors enthusiast taxpayers — watching two government entities squabble about what color the concrete should be on the lining and whether there should be a central berm down its middle.

By the way, while the Corps and the SFWMD quibble WE CONTINUE TO PAY THEIR SALARIES. What's more, we will also make up the estimated $13 million difference in repairs.

Maybe it's just me, but how long has this project been in the works? Haven't we had YEARS for Corps and SFWMD engineers to agree on these issues? You can't tell me there wasn't one lunch date in there where the two sides could have sat down with the blueprints and said, "Hey, Fred, you know what I think? That's gonna leak."

I know the folks who care about water quality in the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon are just a small segment of total residents on the Treasure Coast. I know that there aren't enough people out there who look at this the way I do.

And that's a shame.

We need this expensive man-made hole in the ground to be ready to do its job. When it is working, it will help clean some of the water that flows down Ten Mile Creek.

Why does that matter? Because a little beyond the water control structure at Gordy Road the name of Ten Mile Creek is dropped. That's where we start calling it the North Fork of the St. Lucie River.

Also, this shallow reservoir could provide 550 acres of recreational access for bass and panfish anglers and waterfowl hunters. It could be like Indian River County's Lake Garcia — agricultural land converted to recreational use.

This fracas is not doing anything for taxpayer confidence. We live in a time where seemingly once a month an elected official gets busted for political, fiscal, ethical or sexual misconduct. Although this little fracas is not on the level of a county commissioner on the take, it reeks of a problematic disconnect between state and federal agencies that is paralyzing our ability to accomplish great things.

Here is hoping the district and the corps resolve this issue quickly and cost effectively.

Have you caught Ed Killer's weekly fishing E-mail newsletter? Sign up for it in the Newsletters section at TCPalm.com and each Thursday, you'll know where to go and what to do to wet a line over the weekend.