Course
The river rises in the Sierra Nevada in southwestern Mono County, approximately 20 miles (32.2 km) south of Mono Lake and 25 miles (40.2 km) east of Yosemite Village. It flows southeast across the Long Valley Caldera, through Lake Crowley reservoir, then descends through the 10-mile-long (16 km) Owens River Gorge, emerging at the north end of the Owens Valley north of Bishop. In the area around Bishop, it is diverted through many ditches to irrigate the surrounding farming region. It flows south-southeast through the Owens Valley between the Sierra Nevada on the west and the White and Inyo Mountains on the east, past Big Pine. Approximately 10 miles (16.1 km) south-southeast of Big Pine, most of the remaining river is diverted into the Los Angeles Aqueduct, completed in 1913 to supply municipal, recreational and agricultural water to Los Angeles. The remaining river flows through the southern valley, flanked by the Los Angeles Aqueduct, past Lone Pine, entering the lake bed of predominantly dry Owens Lake at the southern end of Owens Valley.
Read more about this topic: Owens River