High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Owens Lake is a mostly dry lake in the Owens Valley on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada in Inyo County, California. It is located about 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Lone Pine, California. Unlike most dry lakes in the Basin and Range Province that have been dry for thousands of years, Owens held significant water until 1924, until much of the Owens River was diverted into the Los Angeles Aqueduct, causing it to desiccate. Today, some of the flow of the river has been restored, and the lake now contains some water.