Category Archives: Drought

Featured Image – 11/5/2019

Owens Lake, once a fairly large lake at the southern end of the Owens Valley, dried up after the water from the Owens River, its primary source, was diverted into the Los Angeles Aqueduct. That aqueduct, engineered by William Mulholland, was officially opened on November 5, 1913.

Near Bartlett Point, CA looking toward the Inyo Mountains and New York Butte

Shown here, the shorelines of the former Owens Lake are visible in the distance, rather looking like rings in a bathtub. The lake bed, after the lake was gone, became one of the largest single sources of particulate matter pollution in the western United States. Mitigation efforts, required by court decree, have helped a great deal but are still a far cry from the lake that once had steam boats crossing it.

Image Of The Week – 9/11/14

Swimming to a 1901 Southern Pacific Railroad bridge and tunnel in Lake Shasta near Lakehead. October 2008.
Swimming to a 1901 Southern Pacific Railroad bridge and tunnel in Lake Shasta near Lakehead. October 2008.