Largest lakes & reservoirs in 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 2151 articles we have published for lakes.
Thinking about booking a lake vacation home rental, cabin or hotel?
Use our free interactive vacation rental map to search and compare multiple vacation properties at a glance. Enter a lake name, a state or city and then simply click on a listing to compare all similar properties, best rates and availability for your dates.Search results: Sort lakes by water volume
Below are lakes within Compared by water volume. This list does not represent all lakes in , only the 2151 lake articles we have published on the LakeLubbers website.
Lake name  |
Water vol. in ac-ft |
Lake description |
|---|---|---|
| DeGray Lake, AR (Arkansas, Ouachitas Region, AR, US South Region, USA) |
1,377,000 ac-ft | DeGray Lake is nestled in the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains, in an area logically known as the Ouachita Mountain Region of Arkansas. This sectio … |
| Fremont Lake (Southwest Wyoming, US West Region, USA, Wyoming) |
1,370,105 ac-ft | (Also known as The Deep, Stewart Lake (historical)) One of the best-kept secret lake destinations in Northwestern Wyoming is spectacular Fremont Lake. Formed by nature when glaciers gouged out a deep tr … |
| Lake Wallula, OR/WA (Eastern Oregon, Oregon, South Central Washington, US West Region, USA, Washington) |
1,350,000 ac-ft | Lake Wallula, a 64 mile long reservoir, is a wide open glassy lake that extends from northeastern Oregon to southeastern Washington. Lake Wallula rece … |
| Lake Alexandrina & Lake Albert (Australia, South Australia, Australia) |
1,305,248 ac-ft | (Also known as Lower Murray Lakes) Lake Alexandrina and Lake Albert are important lakes south of Adelaide in South Australia. Often called the lower lakes of the Murray River, the two f … |
| Skaneateles Lake, NY (Finger Lakes Region, NY, New York, US Mid-Atlantic Region, USA) |
1,301,206 ac-ft | Skaneateles Lake, pronounced “skany-atlas” or “skinny-atlas,” is one of New York’s famous Finger Lakes. Its name means “long lake” in one of the local … |
| Loch Tay (Central Scotland, Perthshire Region, Scotland, Scotland, United Kingdom, United Kingdom) |
1,297,952 ac-ft | Loch Tay is a long and narrow natural lake in the central Scottish Highlands that extends southwest to northeast in the country’s Central and Perthshi … |
| Banks Lake, WA (North Central Washington, US West Region, USA, Washington) |
1,275,000 ac-ft | Banks Lake is a 27 mile equalizing reservoir and part of the Columbia Basin Project, a major water resource project to provide irrigation water to fer … |
| Quabbin Reservoir (Massachusetts, US New England Region, USA, Western Massachusetts) |
1,264,380 ac-ft | One of the country’s largest man-made public water supplies, Quabbin Reservoir dominates the landscape in Western Massachusetts. Supplying much of the … |
| Grenada Lake, MS (Hills Region, MS, Mississippi, US South Region, USA) |
1,251,710 ac-ft | Grenada Lake, located northeast of Grenada in Mississippi’s Hill Region, is the largest body of water lying completely within the state. With 35,820 a … |
| Lake Winnebago, WI (Central Sands Prairie Region, WI, US Midwest Region, USA, Wisconsin) |
1,230,000 ac-ft | American white pelicans skim across the surface of Lake Winnebago, fishing alongside the anglers below. Birds and fishermen alike flock to the beautif … |
| Lake Moultrie, SC (Santee Cooper Country, SC, South Carolina, US South Region, USA) |
1,211,000 ac-ft | Lake Moultrie is located 31 miles north of Charleston in the low country of South Carolina. The lake is renowned for both its fishing and its natural … |
| Palisades Reservoir, ID/WY (Eastern Idaho, Idaho, Southwest Wyoming, US West Region, USA, Wyoming) |
1,200,000 ac-ft | Palisades Reservoir is set in southeast Idaho, east of Idaho Falls in a beautiful river valley. The southern end of the reservoir extends into Wyoming … |