Largest lakes & reservoirs in Louisiana 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 11 articles we have published for Louisiana lakes.
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Below are lakes within USA > US South Region > Louisiana > Compared by water volume. This list does not represent all lakes in Louisiana, only the 11 Louisiana lake articles we have published on the LakeLubbers website.
Lake name  |
Water vol. in ac-ft |
Lake description |
|---|---|---|
| Lake Pontchartrain, LA (Greater New Orleans Region, LA, Louisiana, US South Region, USA) |
4,838,400 ac-ft | Lake Pontchartrain technically isn’t a lake at all. In scientific circles, it’s referred to as an estuary. That’s really just a fancy way to say that … |
| Toledo Bend Reservoir, LA/TX (Crossroads Region, LA, Louisiana, Piney Woods Region, TX, Texas, US South Region, US Southwest Region, USA) |
4,477,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Toledo Bend Lake) A grand experience is assured in visiting Toledo Bend Reservoir, renowned as the largest man-made aquatic body in the southern United States. Cradled … |
| Lake Claiborne, LA (Louisiana, Sportsman's Paradise Region, LA, US South Region, USA) |
99,500 ac-ft | Lake Claiborne is well known as the “Best Kept Secret in Louisiana.” Also referred to as Louisiana’s purest lake, the quality of the water makes Lake … |
| Caddo Lake, LA/TX (Louisiana, Piney Woods Region, TX, Sportsman's Paradise Region, LA, Texas, US South Region, US Southwest Region, USA) |
85,100 ac-ft | Caddo Lake covers an impressive 26,800 acres and straddles the border of Texas and Louisiana. The lake is a maze of interconnected waterways, heavily … |
| Cross Lake, LA (Louisiana, Sportsman's Paradise Region, LA, US South Region, USA) |
65,807 ac-ft | Cross Lake is a popular fishing and boating lake near Shreveport in Northwest Louisiana. The 8,575 acre freshwater reservoir supplies water to the cit … |
| Lake Kincaid, LA (Crossroads Region, LA, Louisiana, US South Region, USA) |
25,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Kincaid Reservoir or Kincaid Lake) In the Crossroads region of Louisiana, the bayous, wetlands, pine-covered hills and farms meet. So too do the diversity of Cajun, Anglo, French, Creol … |
