Largest lakes & reservoirs in Illinois 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 64 articles we have published for Illinois lakes.
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Below are lakes within USA > US Midwest Region > Illinois > Compared by water volume. This list does not represent all lakes in Illinois, only the 64 Illinois lake articles we have published on the LakeLubbers website.
Lake name | Water vol. in ac-ft | Lake description |
---|---|---|
Lake Sara, IL (Central Illinois, Illinois, US Midwest Region, USA) |
12,007 ac-ft | (Also known as Sara Reservoir) Lake Sara – a refreshing oasis in central Illinois! What does a community like Effingham Illinois do when they run out of water? They build a reservoi … |
Lake Mattoon, IL (Central Illinois, Illinois, US Midwest Region, USA) |
11,820 ac-ft | Surrounded by farmlands in the Central region of Illinois is Lake Mattoon. A quiet and tranquil retreat for many Illinoisans and out-of-towners, the l … |
Governor Bond Lake, IL (Illinois, Southwest Illinois, US Midwest Region, USA) |
9,900 ac-ft | (Also known as Greenville New City Lake) Governor Bond Lake is proclaimed to be one of Greenville, Illinois best kept secrets. A water supply reservoir built in the late 1960’s has become a t … |
Elizabeth Lake, IL/WI (Illinois, Lake Michigan Region, WI, Northern Illinois, US Midwest Region, USA, Wisconsin) |
6,900 ac-ft | (Also known as Lake Elizabeth, Twin Lakes) Lake Elizabeth or Elizabeth Lake, as it is more commonly known, has been a vacation getaway for over 150 years. Located in the Northern Region of Illi … |
Holiday Shores Lake, IL (Illinois, Southwest Illinois, US Midwest Region, USA) |
6,610 ac-ft | (Also known as Holiday Lake) Holiday Shores Lake is a sprawling 430-acre, man-made lake in Madison County, Illinois. Formed by the damming of Joulters Creek in 1965, this unique l … |
Lake Petersburg, IL (Central Illinois, Illinois, US Midwest Region, USA) |
4,310 ac-ft | (Also known as Petersburg Lake, Petersburg Reservoir) Something in human nature seems to require a water body to feel complete: Lake Petersburg fills that need. The people of Petersburg on the border betw … |
Lake Thunderbird, IL (Illinois, Northern Illinois, US Midwest Region, USA, Western Illinois) |
4,025 ac-ft | Nestled in the rural Illinois woods, Lake Thunderbird is set in Putnam County, the smallest county in Illinois. The lake, located on the border of the … |
Deep Lake IL (Chicagoland Region, IL, Illinois, US Midwest Region, USA) |
3,955 ac-ft | Even in a county with hundreds of lakes, Deep Lake stands out. Located in Lake County, in the Chicagoland Region of Illinois, private Deep Lake is not … |
Bangs Lake, IL (Chicagoland Region, IL, Illinois, US Midwest Region, USA) |
3,324 ac-ft | Bangs Lake is a natural glacial lake located in northeastern Illinois’ Lake County. Bangs Lake is surrounded by the developing northern suburbs of Chi … |
Third Lake and Druce Lake, IL (Chicagoland Region, IL, Illinois, US Midwest Region, USA) |
3,079 ac-ft | (Also known as Chittenden Lake and Second Lake) The Village of Third Lake, located north of Chicago, is one of those secret locations that blends life in the big city with outdoor amenities. Small D … |
Lake Carlinville, IL (Central Illinois, Illinois, US Midwest Region, USA) |
2,110 ac-ft | (Also known as Carlinville Lake, Lake 1 and Lake 2) Located in the Central region of Illinois, Lake Carlinville (also known as Carlinville Lake) is a 355-acre lake used for drinking water and recreation … |
Crooked Lake, IL (Chicagoland Region, IL, Illinois, US Midwest Region, USA) |
1,488 ac-ft | In a landscape dotted by glacial lakes and wetlands, Crooked Lake is in the aptly named Lake County of Illinois. Situated in the Chicagoland tourist r … |