Largest lakes & reservoirs in USA by water volume
This is a comparison for lakes within USA > - Compared by Largest Lakes - Water Volume in acre-foot.For some lakes, "Largest Lakes - Water Volume" is unknown or does not apply, so this table may display fewer lakes than the total 1644 articles we have published for USA lakes.
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.
Search results: Sort lakes by water volume
Lake name  |
Water vol. in ac-ft |
Lake description |
|---|---|---|
| Lake Superior (Canada, Great Lakes, Lake Superior Northwoods Region, Michigan, Midwest, Minnesota, Northeast, Ontario, USA, Upper Peninsula, Wisconsin) |
9,799,680,000 ac-ft | Skipping over state and country borders, Lake Superior, the largest, deepest, coldest, cleanest, least developed, and most pristine of the Great Lakes… |
| Lake Michigan-Huron (Canada, Chicagoland, Great Lakes, Illinois, Indiana, Lake Michigan Region, Michigan, Midwest, North, Northeast, Northwest, Ontario, Southwest, USA, Upper Peninsula, West Central, Wisconsin) |
6,858,776,000 ac-ft | Lake Michigan and Lake Huron – two of North America’s Great Lakes – are contiguous and they share the same elevation of 577 feet above sea level. They… |
| Lake Michigan (Chicagoland, Great Lakes, Illinois, Indiana, Lake Michigan Region, Michigan, Midwest, North, Northwest, Southwest, USA, Upper Peninsula, West Central, Wisconsin) |
3,987,456,000 ac-ft | As the only Great Lake nestled completely within the boundaries of the United States, Lake Michigan is the pride and joy of Wisconsin, Illinois, India… |
| Lake Huron (Canada, East Central, Great Lakes, Michigan, Midwest, Northeast, Ontario, USA, Upper Peninsula) |
2,872,320,000 ac-ft | A glacial lake of epic proportions, Lake Huron is the second largest of the five Great Lakes by surface area, boasting 23,010 square miles and an incr… |
| Lake Ontario (Canada, Finger Lakes, Great Lakes, Greater Niagara, Mid-Atlantic, New York, Ontario, Thousand Islands, USA) |
1,328,025,600 ac-ft | Lake Ontario, one of the world’s five Great Lakes, weaves over state and country borders, delighting Americans, Canadians, and visiting tourists with… |
| Lake Erie (Canada, Chautauqua-Allegheny, Great Lakes, Greater Niagara, Michigan, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, New York, Northeast, Northwest, Ohio, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Southeast, USA) |
391,987,200 ac-ft | Lake Erie, one of the Great Lakes of North America, straddles the borders of Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan, and the Canadian province of Onta… |
| Lake Tahoe (California, High Sierra, Nevada, Renoe-Tahoe Territory, USA, West) |
122,160,280 ac-ft | Tucked into the Sierra Nevada Mountains and straddling the California-Nevada state line, Lake Tahoe is one of the most famous lakes in the United Stat… |
| Lake Pend Oreille (Idaho, Northern, USA, West) |
43,939,940 ac-ft | (Also known as Albeni Falls Dam) Set in a valley carved by glaciers from Canada, Lake Pend Oreille (pond-a-RAY) is surrounded by mountains with altitudes exceeding 6,000 feet. Its 85,… |
| Lake Mead (Arizona, Las Vegas Territory, Nevada, Southwest, USA, West, West Coast) |
28,537,000 ac-ft | Lake Mead is the USA’s largest man-made reservoir in amount of water it can hold. Although Lake Powell is marginally larger in acreage at full-pond, L… |
| Great Salt Lake (Great Salt Lake Country, Ogden & Northwest, USA, Utah, West) |
28,000,000 ac-ft | (Also known as America's Dead Sea) Sometimes called “America’s Dead Sea,” the Great Salt Lake occupies approximately 1,700 square miles of Utah’s real estate. It is the second largest l… |
| Lake Powell (Arizona, Canyonlands, Color Country, North Central, Southwest, USA, Utah, West) |
27,000,000 ac-ft | Lake Powell is located in one of Southern Utah’s most picturesque red-rock desert areas and in Arizona’s Navajo Indian Reservation. It is one of the U… |
| Lake Sakakawea (Midwest, North Dakota, Northwest, USA) |
23,821,000 ac-ft | The second-largest reservoir by surface acreage in the United States (and third-largest in volume), Lake Sakakawea stretches 178 miles from Garrison D… |
