The population of the city of Los Angeles has increased ten times in the last century. This growth has led to an ever greater challenge of supplying drinking water for the residents. For this reason, aqueducts were built in 1913 to bring fresh water into the city from great distances. 

One of these freshwater sources was Owens Lake, 250 km north of Los Angeles. Due to the diversion of the water, the lake and the Owens River below the aqueduct dried up completely a few years later. 

Since then, the lake, which once had a surface comparable to the city of Manhattan, has become a vast desert landscape. Due to the exposed lake bottom, dust storms around the former lake increased significantly. As a result, toxic dust particles such as arsenic and cadmium entered the atmosphere and later caused respiratory problems for residents of the surrounding communities. The level of fine dust at Owens Lake was the highest in the United States at more than 120 times the national air quality limit. 

Today, a large-scale restoration project has been attempted to minimize dust levels in the area. The remaining 5% of the Owens River’s water is now spread over the dried lake area. As a result, small plants now start growing in small basins, where birds find a new habitat. 

The former Owens Lake remains a dystopian landscape that makes an impressive example of our extraordinary influence on nature and the side effects it may cause.