Largest lakes & reservoirs in US South Region 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 343 articles we have published for US South Region lakes.
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Below are lakes within USA > US South Region > Compared by water volume. This list does not represent all lakes in US South Region, only the 343 US South Region lake articles we have published on the LakeLubbers website.
Lake name | Water vol. in ac-ft | Lake description |
---|---|---|
Fontana Lake, NC (Mountains Region, NC, North Carolina, US South Region, USA) |
513,965 ac-ft | (Also known as Fontana Reservoir) Fontana Lake, nestled in western North Carolina’s Smoky Mountains, was built by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to provide hydroelectric power to … |
Pickwick Lake, AL/MS/TN (Alabama, Hills Region, MS, Mississippi, Mountains Region, AL, Tennessee, US South Region, USA, West Tennessee) |
492,700 ac-ft | (Also known as Pickwick Reservoir) Pickwick Lake is a 43,100-acre reservoir created by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) with construction of Pickwick Landing Dam across the Tennesse … |
Center Hill Lake, TN (Middle Tennessee, Tennessee, US South Region, USA) |
492,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Center Hill Reservoir) Center Hill Lake is almost completely surrounded by the beautiful hardwood forested hills of the Tennessee Eastern Highlands. Center Hill Lake has 18, … |
Lake Dardanelle, AR (Arkansas, River Valley Region, AR, US South Region, USA) |
486,200 ac-ft | (Also known as Dardanelle Lake) Lake Dardanelle stretches out over more than 34,000 acres in the River Valley region of northwest Arkansas, sandwiched between the Ozark Mountains to … |
Lake Oconee, GA (Classic South Region, GA, Georgia, Historic Heartland Region, GA, US South Region, USA) |
470,000 ac-ft | Lake Oconee takes its name from a group of Creek Indians that long ago lived close to Georgia’s Oconee River basin. “Oconee” is purported to mean “gre … |
Lake George, FL (Cross Florida, East Central Florida, Florida, US South Region, USA) |
460,000 ac-ft | Lake George is the second largest lake in Florida, second only to Lake Okeechobee. Lake George is also the largest lake on the St. Johns River, about … |
Lake Gaston, NC/VA (North Carolina, Piedmont Region, NC, Southern Virginia Region, US South Region, USA, Virginia) |
450,000 ac-ft | Lake Gaston covers 20,300 acres along 34 miles of Virginia and North Carolina real estate. The lake was created in 1963 by the Virginia Electric and P … |
Laurel River Lake, KY (Daniel Boone Country, KY, Kentucky, US South Region, USA) |
435,000 ac-ft | Laurel River Lake was created by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1974 to provide flood control and hydroelectric power to its neighboring areas, b … |
Lake Wedowee, AL (Alabama, Metropolitan Region, AL, US South Region, USA) |
426,000 ac-ft | (Also known as R. L. Harris Reservoir, Harris Lake) Lake Wedowee, also known as the R. L. Harris Reservoir, is tucked in the foothills of the Talladega and Appalachian Mountains. The lake is an impoundm … |
Old Hickory Lake, TN (Middle Tennessee, Tennessee, US South Region, USA) |
420,000 ac-ft | Only half an hour outside of Nashville, Old Hickory Lake offers outdoor recreational opportunities for millions of visitors to the middle region of Te … |
Chickamauga Lake, TN (East Tennessee, Tennessee, US South Region, USA) |
392,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Chickamauga Reservoir) Chickamauga Lake is a fabulous recreational reservoir. It is located in southeast Tennessee, 20 miles from Chattanooga, and includes 810 miles of shor … |
Carters Lake, GA (Georgia, Historic High Country Region, GA, US South Region, USA) |
383,600 ac-ft | Positioned at the south end of the majestic Blue Ridge Mountains in North Georgia, Carters Lake is a small, deep lake with a little over 60 miles of s … |