Owens Lake is the most visible casualty of water diversions from Owens River. Even without the Aqueduct, the lake would have been a desiccated and dusty playa due to excessive diversions by the farmers starting in the 1880s.
10,000 years ago, Owens Lake overflowed into the Rose Valley via Fossil Falls. Traces of these ancient beaches can be spotted on the alluvial fans surrounding the lake. [Source: Orme & Orme 2015, Geologic Society of America Special Publication 429].
In the 1870s, two steam ships plied the waters of Owens Lake, shaving two days off the journey of Silver-Lead bullion to Los Angeles and supplying raw materials to the mines of Cerro Gordo. {Source: Owensvalleyhistory.com]
Owens Lake Bathymetry from the 1916 Complete Report on the Construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct. [Scanned by Aqueduct Futures Project].
Owens Lake Dust Control Drawings
Aqueduct Futures 