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 |
---|---|---|
Bucks Lake, CA (California, Shasta Cascade Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
101,926 ac-ft | A peregrine falcon, perched in the top of a silvery, windswept pine, watches a sailboat tack back and forth across the clear cool water of Bucks Lake. … |
Los Vaqueros Reservoir (Bay Area Region, CA, California, US West Region, USA) |
100,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Los Vaqueros Lake) The Los Vaqueros Reservoir in the San Francisco Bay area is being remodeled! Soon to be re-opened, Los Vaqueros Lake is going to be even bigger and be … |
Castaic Lake, CA (California, Los Angeles County, CA, US West Region, USA) |
100,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Lake Castaic) Almost every lake promises something for everyone, but Castaic Lake in Los Angeles County, California delivers. With separate sections of its 2,427 ac … |
Beardsley Lake (California, High Sierra Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
97,500 ac-ft | (Also known as Beardsley Reservior, Beardsley Lake Reservoir) Nearly 60 years ago, the effort to provide water to the orchards and farms in California’s Central Valley brought about the creation of beautiful Bear … |
Huntington Lake, CA (California, High Sierra Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
89,166 ac-ft | Huntington Lake is located high in the Sierra Mountain Range, just below the Alpine level, at 6,950 feet. The lake covers 1,435 acres and extends 4 mi … |
Lake Mendocino, CA (California, North Coast Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
89,000 ac-ft | With the gateway to the redwoods on one side and California’s wine country on the other, Lake Mendocino is an extraordinary vacation destination. The … |
Lake Pillsbury, CA (California, North Coast Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
86,800 ac-ft | Surrounded by the Mendocino National Forest and approachable only by gravel roads, Lake Pillsbury in Lake County, California is an exciting destinatio … |
Success Lake (California, Central Valley Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
82,300 ac-ft | (Also known as Lake Success, Success Reservoir) Feeding America’s families is just one of the quiet duties of Success Lake in California’s fertile Central Valley region. Since the Tule River was dam … |
Big Bear Lake, CA (California, Inland Empire Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
73,370 ac-ft | Located just 100 miles from Los Angeles but wrapped in an entirely different environment, Big Bear Lake is both convenient and escapist. Surrounded by … |
Silverwood Lake, CA (California, Inland Empire Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
73,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Lake Silverwood) Rimmed with live oak, manzanita, and mountain mahogany and set against the backdrop of the snow-capped San Bernardino Mountains, Silverwood Lake is an … |
Donnells Reservoir (California, High Sierra Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
63,309 ac-ft | (Also known as Donnells Lake, Donnell Lake) Donnells Reservoir is one of the Central Sierra’s most picturesque lakes. Sometimes called Donnell Lake, it has its own dedicated viewing location and … |
Lake Tulloch, CA (California, Gold Country Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
59,935 ac-ft | (Also known as Tulloch Lake) An impoundment of the Stanislaus River, Lake Tulloch is part of a much larger water system and provides water for both irrigation and recreation. With … |