Largest lakes & reservoirs in California by water volume
The estimated volume of water that a lake contains is measured at the lake’s normal elevation. By this measure, the world’s largest freshwater lake is Siberia’s Lake Baikal.Water Volume can be measured in acre-feet, in cubic miles, or in cubic kilometers. One acre-foot is the amount of water needed to cover one acre (43,560 square feet) to a depth of one foot. One cubic mile equals 3,379,200 acre-feet. One cubic kilometer equals 810,713 acre-feet. 1 acre-foot is equal to 325,851 US gallons. Siberia’s Lake Baikal contains about 6,276,367,740,000,000 gallons of freshwater – nearly 1 million gallons for every living person on earth.
The other – and more widely used – measure of a lake’s size is the lake’s surface acreage. By that measure, the world’s largest freshwater lake is North America’s Lake Superior.
Note: In the United States, an acre foot is a unit of volume used to refer to large-scale bodies of water. It is defined by the volume of water needed to cover 1 acre of surface area to a depth of 1 foot.
You can find many of the the world’s largest lakes (by water volume) on LakeLubbers. Note: For some lakes, the water volume data is unknown or does not apply, so you may see fewer lakes than the total 75 articles we have published for California lakes.
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Below are lakes within USA > US West Region > California > Compared by water volume. This list does not represent all lakes in California, only the 75 California lake articles we have published on the LakeLubbers website.
Lake name | Water vol. in ac-ft | Lake description |
---|---|---|
Diamond Valley Lake, CA (California, Inland Empire Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
800,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Diamond Valley Reservoir) Diamond Valley Lake lies between two mountains in California’s Inland Empire tourism region. The 4,500-acre lake is Southern California’s newest and l … |
Lake Havasu, AZ/CA (Arizona, California, Desert Region, CA, US Southwest Region, US West Region, USA, West Coast Region, AZ) |
648,000 ac-ft | Lake Havasu’s 20,400 acres, formed behind Parker Dam on the Colorado River, is a boating paradise. Around Lake Havasu City, the most recognizable sigh … |
Lake Isabella, CA (California, High Sierra Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
560,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Isabella Reservoir) Lake Isabella is an 11,200 acre reservoir in Kern County, California, about 35 miles northeast of Bakersfield. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers create … |
Clear Lake Reservoir, CA (California, Shasta Cascade Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
527,000 ac-ft | Located in Modoc County, California near the Oregon border, Clear Lake Reservoir stands statuesque among the surrounding hills and plains. The origina … |
Lake Camanche, CA (California, Gold Country Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
417,120 ac-ft | (Also known as Camanche Reservoir) Lake Camanche is situated on the border of Calaveras and Amador Counties in California’s Gold Country tourism region. These two counties played influe … |
Cherry Lake, CA (California, High Sierra Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
273,500 ac-ft | (Also known as Cherry Creek Reservoir) Creation of Cherry Lake and the Tuolumne River watershed was a cooperative effort among the city and county of San Francisco, the Modesto and Turlock … |
Lake Sonoma, CA (California, North Coast Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
245,000 ac-ft | In 1983 the US Army Corps of Engineers completed the Warm Springs Dam, and the almost limitless recreation opportunities of Sonoma County California e … |
Whiskeytown Lake, CA (California, Shasta Cascade Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
241,096 ac-ft | Pristine Whiskeytown Lake is located 8 miles west of Redding in the Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, a portion of the larger Shasta-Trinity Recre … |
Lake Kaweah (California, Central Valley Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
185,600 ac-ft | (Also known as Kaweah Lake, Kaweah Reservoir) Lake Kaweah, located about halfway between the City of Visalia and Sequoia National Park in California’s Central Valley region, is an engineering marv … |
Crowley Lake (California, High Sierra Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
183,743 ac-ft | (Also known as Long Valley Reservoir, Lake Crowley) Crowley Lake is known for excellent trout fishing in California’s High Sierras region. Before construction of the Long Valley Dam in 1941, few trout e … |
Shaver Lake, CA (California, High Sierra Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
135,283 ac-ft | (Also known as Shaver Reservoir) Sixty miles east of Fresno, hidden in the High Sierra Region, Shaver Lake is one of California’s favorite recreation destinations. There have been man … |
Donner Lake (California, Gold Country Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
102,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Truckee Lake) Steeped in the history of America’s Emigrant Trail, Donner Lake sits in California’s beautiful Sierra Nevada Mountains. Found within Nevada County’s c … |