Owens Valley Lake

USA / California / Keeler /
 lake, water
Owens Lake is a large dry lake in eastern California's Owens Valley, located about 5 miles south of Lone Pine, California. Unlike most dry lakes in the Basin and Range Province (which have been dry for thousands of years), Owens held significant water until 1924, fed by the Owens River. Starting in 1913, the streams that fed Owens were diverted by Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to feed the Los Angeles Aqueduct, and the lake dried up rapidly (see California Water Wars).

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"Famed humorist, actor, statesman and cowboy Will Rogers said this about the aqueduct in 1930: "Ten years ago this was a wonderful valley with one-quarter of a million acres of fruit and alfalfa. But Los Angeles had to have more water for its Chamber of Commerce to drink more toasts to its growth, more water to dilute its orange juice and more water for its geraniums to delight the tourists, while the giant cottonwoods here died. So, now this is a valley of desolation.""

www.owensvalleyhistory.com/ghosts_of_past2/page9.html
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owens_Lake
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   36°25'26"N   117°56'20"W

Comments

  • It is a valley of desolation - true. But there is also a stark beauty. I have included an image of the lake taken from roadside along Hwy 190.
This article was last modified 15 years ago