Qualla: Owens Lake: The Dead Sea Los Angeles Murdered

Owens Lake: The Dead Sea Los Angeles Murdered: Introduction

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jengod, CC BY-SA 4.0. Los Angeles killed Owens Lake and left the body to rot in the sun. In 1913, the city opened the Los Angeles Aqueduct, diverting the Owens River before it could reach the lake. Within a decade, 100 square miles of water had evaporated, leaving a dry lakebed of salt, arsenic, and fine sediment that the wind picks up and throws across the Owens Valley. By the 1980s, Owens Lake was the single largest source of particulate pollution in North America - dust storms so thick they closed highways and sent residents to hospitals. Los Angeles drank well while the valley choked. The cleanup has cost billions and isn't finished. The lake isn't coming back. The body remains.

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Image: Jengod | CC BY-SA 4.0

Owens Lake: The Dead Sea Los Angeles Murdered: The Theft

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Clinton Steeds from Los Angeles, USA, CC BY 2.0. Los Angeles in 1900 was running out of water. William Mulholland, the city's water superintendent, looked north to the Owens Valley - 200 miles away, on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada, fed by snowmelt from the highest peaks in California. Through a combination of deception...

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Image: Clinton Steeds from Los Angeles, USA | CC BY 2.0

Owens Lake: The Dead Sea Los Angeles Murdered: The Death

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided, Public domain. Owens Lake began dying immediately. The Owens River, which had fed the lake for millennia, now flowed through the aqueduct to Los Angeles. Evaporation exceeded inflow; the lake shrank year by year. By 1924, the lake was mostly dry. Where 100 square miles of water had supported wa...

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Image: Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided | Public domain

Owens Lake: The Dead Sea Los Angeles Murdered: The Dust

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Martin D. Adamiker, CC BY-SA 4.0. Owens Lake dry lakebed became the largest single source of PM10 pollution in America. Dust storms darkened the sky, reduced visibility to zero, closed highways, and sent particulate matter into lungs throughout the valley. The dust contained arsenic, cadmium, nickel, and other to...

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Image: Martin D. Adamiker | CC BY-SA 4.0

Owens Lake: The Dead Sea Los Angeles Murdered: The Mitigation

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Epolk, CC BY-SA 3.0. Los Angeles has spent over $2 billion trying to control the dust it created. Shallow flooding, gravel cover, vegetation, and managed wetlands now cover most of the lakebed, suppressing dust but not restoring the lake. Some water returns - enough to create seasonal habitat for mig...

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Image: Epolk | CC BY-SA 3.0

Owens Lake: The Dead Sea Los Angeles Murdered: Visiting Owens Lake

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Eeek, CC BY 3.0. Owens Lake is located in Inyo County, California, east of the Sierra Nevada along Highway 395. The dry lakebed is visible from the highway as a vast white flat with managed wetland areas. The Owens Lake Dust Mitigation Program operates visitor facilities seasonally - check with t...

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Image: Eeek | CC BY 3.0