37°34′28″N118°37′02″W / 37.574515°N 118.617325°W /37.574515; -118.617325TheOwens River Gorge is a steep 10 mi (16 km) canyon on the upperOwens River in easternCalifornia in theUnited States. The canyon is located at the eastern edge of theSierra Nevada mountains in southernMono County, along the stretch of the river where it exits the Long Valley near its source and enters the north end ofOwens Valley. The gorge is a popular destination forrock climbing.
The Owens River Gorge was formed when the Owens River cut through theBishop Tuff: a layer of welded ash formed from the eruption of theLong Valley Caldera.[1] This erosion exposed the tuff layers, including rare columnarrhyolite formations.
TheLos Angeles Department of Water and Power constructed theLong Valley Dam at the head of the Owens River Gorge as part of ahydropower project in 1941, and completely dewatered the 16-km Lower Gorge reach from 1953 to 1991. Beginning in 1991, a limited range of flowshas been released to rewater the reach, recreateriparianhabitat, and reestablish abrown trout sport fishery while maintaining hydropowerdiversions.[2][3]
This article incorporatespublic domain material fromMeasurement of pre-dam Gorge flows(PDF).United States Department of Agriculture.| International | |
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