[4] The bed of Owens Lake, now a predominantly dry endorheic alkali flat, sits on the southern end of the valley.

About three million years ago, the Sierra Nevada Fault and the White Mountains Fault systems became active with repeated episodes of slip earthquakes gradually producing the impressive relief of the eastern Sierra Nevada and White Mountain escarpments that bound the northern Owens Valley-Mono Basin region.

The primary landforms of this ecoregion are gently to moderately sloping alluvial fans and mostly level basin floors, terraces, and floodplains.

However, because the ecoregion is in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada, and is adjacent to the Mojave Desert, the aridity leads to black sagebrush being common and the more mesic understory species being largely absent.

Other Mojave Desert species, such as blackbrush, Joshua tree, and cholla cactus are common where summer moisture is more prevalent.

Storm events can be of sufficient magnitude to move large quantities of sediment in streambeds Because of the arid conditions, this ecoregion has low carrying capacity for cattle.

[8] The southern part of the valley, except for the bed of Owens Lake, lies in the "Western Mojave Basins" ecoregion.

[2] The ecoregion is typically dominated by creosotebush and white bursage, with areas of shadscale, fourwing saltbush, and on some upper bajadas and fans, scattered Joshua trees.

[2] The high salt and clay content of playa surface mud, and the hot, dry conditions inhibit plant growth.

The Timbisha presently live in Death Valley at Furnace Creek although most families also have summer homes in the Lone Pine colony.

[9] Trade between Native Americans of the Owens Valley and coastal tribes such as the Chumash has been indicated by the archaeological record.

[13] From 1942 to 1945, during World War II, the first Japanese American Internment camp operated in the valley at Manzanar near Independence.

In the early 20th century, the valley became the scene of a struggle between local residents and the city of Los Angeles over water rights.

Under another settlement, this time including the State of California, Los Angeles promised to rewater the lower Owens River by September 2005.

[19] Pursuant to a 2014 agreement between the city and Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District (GBUAPCD, the Owens Valley air quality regulators), LADWP began using a new method of suppressing airborne dust from the dry bed of Owens Lake.

[22] A California Superior Court ruled that the 2014 agreement doesn't cover the dispute and the fines levied by GBUAPCD are unenforceable.

[21] The Owens Valley Radio Observatory located near Westgard Pass is one of ten dishes making up the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA).