A presentation about a vague water storage project in the Upper Klamath Basin turned into a pitch to get divided interests on the Klamath River talking.

The polarized upper and lower Klamath watershed has been a flash point for divisiveness over the past several years. But Klamath County, Ore., Commissioner John Elliot and the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday expressed a sincere desire to change that.

The deepest rifts between the two regions began in 2001. That year the federal government cut off water to most farms in its central Oregon-California border irrigation project to protect salmon and suckers. In 2002, it crimped water to fish in the Klamath River -- and up to 68,000 salmon died.

Board Chairwoman Jill Geist said she believes everyone is tired of fighting, and told Elliot she hopes the region's leaders can get together.

"We're not going to be in agreement," Geist said, "but at least we can develop those commonalties."

Elliot agreed.

Elliot traveled to Humboldt County to ask for support for studying a new water storage project. An idea hatched decades ago, the idea is to use Long Lake, a natural bowl, to form a large reservoir, and then send the water -- expected to be colder and cleaner than Upper Klamath Lake's -- down the Klamath for fish.

As conceived, the Long Lake project could trap perhaps 350,000 acre feet of water from winter and summer precipitation, then pipe the water to the Klamath River as needed. That could allow more Upper Klamath Lake water to be used by irrigators, increasing the flexibility of the federal Klamath Irrigation Project.

"The only elastic band in the Klamath watershed is the Klamath project," Elliot said.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation keeps Upper Klamath Lake at a certain level to protect suckers, but must send enough water downstream to support salmon. That has the potential to squeeze water supplies to farmers.

Many downstream interests contend the operation harms salmon, and point to the 2002 fish kill as evidence.

The storage project has not been defined in any detail, and it's unknown who would study the proposal. Supervisors suggested Humboldt State University and Oregon State University be involved.

Humboldt County on Tuesday agreed to write a letter to Reclamation voicing support.

Tim McKay of the Northcoast Environmental Center was skeptical of the proposal, and suggested that other options be examined.

"We need to keep our eyes on the prize and not be mesmerized by smoke and mirrors," McKay said.

Others voiced cautious support for the study. Dave Hillemeir, a lead biologist with the Yurok Tribe, said he'd support the analysis, but cautioned that winter and spring flows are crucial for young salmon, and any study should look at the effects of storage on other species, like lamprey and sturgeon.

Eureka commercial fisher Marge Salo told Elliot that the solution is to get people from around the Klamath Basin together and talk about their concerns.

"We need to all start speaking with one voice," she said.