Owens River

Owens River Wakopee[1][2]
Owens River south of Poverty Hills
Map of the Owens Lake watershed, including Los Angeles Aqueduct system
Location of the mouth of the Owens River in California
Location
Country	United States
State	California
District	Mono County, Inyo County
Cities	Mesa, Bishop, Big Pine, Elna (site), Chrysopolis (site), Independence, Lone Pine
Physical characteristics
Source	Confluence of Deadman Creek and an unnamed stream
• location	Inyo National Forest, Mono County
• coordinates	37°45′01″N 118°56′20″W / 37.75028°N 118.93889°W / 37.75028; -118.93889[2]
• elevation	7,251 ft (2,210 m)
Mouth	Owens Lake
• location	A few miles northwest of Keeler, Inyo County
• coordinates	36°32′31″N 117°58′45″W / 36.54194°N 117.97917°W / 36.54194; -117.97917[2]
• elevation	3,592 ft (1,095 m)
Length	183 mi (295 km), north-south
Basin size	2,604 sq mi (6,740 km2)
Discharge
• location	Big Pine, CA[3]
• average	389 cu ft/s (11.0 m3/s)[3]
• minimum	51.9 cu ft/s (1.47 m3/s)
• maximum	3,220 cu ft/s (91 m3/s)
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Spring Valley Wash, Silver Canyon Creek, Coldwater Canyon Creek
• right	Hot Creek, Rock Creek, Bishop Creek, Big Pine Creek, Birch Creek, Independence Creek, Lone Pine Creek
National Wild and Scenic River
Designated	March 30, 2009

The Owens River is a river in eastern California in the United States, approximately 183 miles (295 km) long.^[4] It drains into and through the Owens Valley, an arid basin between the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada and the western faces of the Inyo and White Mountains. The river terminates at the endorheic Owens Lake south of Lone Pine, at the bottom of a 2,600 sq mi (6,700 km²) watershed.

In the early 1900s, the Owens River was the focus of the California Water Wars, fought between the city of Los Angeles and the inhabitants of Owens Valley over the construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct. Since 1913, the Owens River has been diverted to Los Angeles, causing the ruin of the valley's economy and the drying of Owens Lake. In winter 2006, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power restored 5% of the pre-aqueduct flow to the river by court order, allowing the Owens River Gorge, the river bed in the valley, and Owens Lake to contain a small amount of water.^[5]