Owens Lake, CA 379

Driving north from LA on US 395, you eventually reach Owens Lake. In the early 1900's the lake was navigable, but the beginning of the drainage of the Owens Valley in 1913 to provide water for LA, resulted in the lake being dry most of the time. Winds across the dry lake bed blow a toxic dust over the areas to the west of the lake. Around the lake are multiple structures that processed minerals from the lake in the decades that it was dry. This structure appears to be abandoned. A web search for "Owens Valley LADWP" will provide many sites on the history of water wars an the Owens Valley.

Update 8/13/2014: I came across a series of articles about this place and related activities. It turns out that Owens Lake was the source for many of chemicals used in early Hollywood film making, and that this facility was operated by Pittsburgh Plate Glass, extracting glass making materials from the lake. The facility closed in the 1960's and was largely abandoned, but an artist has converted one of the towers into a camera obscura and a film is being made, using silver that was mined from a nearby mine restoration. Here's the story:
www.kcet.org/arts/artbound/counties/inyo/film-owens-valley-agh20.html