"Owens Dry Lake bed was once a blue saline lake about 15 miles long, 10 miles wide, and 30 feet deep. Owens Lake had been slowly shrinking for the past 10,000 years since the climatic changes that ended the last glacial age... In 1913 the Owens River and all streams that flowed into Owens Lake were diverted into the Los Angeles Aqueduct. Today Owens Lake is an enormous salt flat."

from: Geology Underfoot in Death Valley and Owens Valley, Sharp & Glazner