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.
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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 |
|---|---|---|
| Drawskie Lake District (Northern Poland, Poland, West Pomerania Region, Northern Poland) |
268,706 ac-ft | (Also known as Drawsko Lake District, Drawskie Lakeland) In northern Poland, over 250 lakes are showcased in the Drawskie Lake District’s environmentally diverse landscape. Mountains tower in their alpine be … |
| Lake Osoyoos, WA / Canada (British Columbia, Canada, Canada, North Central Washington, US West Region, USA, Washington) |
266,800 ac-ft | (Also known as Osoyoos Lake) Lake Osoyoos spans more than 5,700 acres and straddles the border of British Columbia, Canada and Washington state in the United States. The Okanagan … |
| Lucky Peak Lake (Idaho, Southwestern Idaho, US West Region, USA) |
264,400 ac-ft | (Also known as Lucky Peak Reservoir) Home of Idaho’s most visited state park, Lucky Peak Lake (sometimes called Lucky Peak Reservoir) covers over 3,000 acres just outside of the capital c … |
| Lay Lake, AL (Alabama, Metropolitan Region, AL, US South Region, USA) |
262,774 ac-ft | Lay Lake is an impressive 12,000-acre reservoir stretching for 48 miles through the counties of Talladega, Shelby, Coosa, and Chilton in east-central … |
| Oneida Lake, NY (Central-Leatherstocking Region, NY, Finger Lakes Region, NY, New York, Thousand Islands Region, NY, US Mid-Atlantic Region, USA) |
255,360 ac-ft | Covering more than 51,000 acres, Oneida Lake is the largest lake located entirely within the state of New York. Named after the Iroquois Nation Oneida … |
| Medina Lake, TX (Hill Country Region, TX, Texas, US Southwest Region, USA) |
254,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Lake Medina) Located in Texas Hill Country, Medina Lake is 40 miles northwest of San Antonio in Bandera and Medina Counties. Controlled by the Bexar-Medina-Atascos … |
| Tuttle Creek Lake, KS (Kansas, Northeast Kansas, US Midwest Region, USA) |
253,265 ac-ft | (Also known as Tuttle Creek Reservoir) When construction of Tuttle Creek Dam began in 1952, the premise was that Tuttle Creek Lake would be a “dry dam” passing water on through to the river … |
| Lake Windermere (England, England's Northwest Region, United Kingdom) |
251,321 ac-ft | (Also known as Windermere, The Lake District) Lake Windermere is the largest natural lake in England, covering more than 3,600 acres (1,476 hectares) in northwest England’s famous Lake District. C … |
| Philpott Lake, VA (Blue Ridge Highlands, VA, Southern Virginia Region, US South Region, USA, Virginia) |
250,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Philpott Reservoir) Snuggled into the Blue Ridge Mountains, the 2,880-acre Philpott Lake resides in southwestern Virginia’s Franklin, Henry, and Patrick Counties. The irr … |
| Lake O’ the Pines (Piney Woods Region, TX, Texas, US Southwest Region, USA) |
250,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Ferrell's Bridge Reservoir-historic) For many people in the Texas Piney Woods region, ‘let’s go to the lake!’ means Lake O’ The Pines. This extraordinary reservoir was built primarily for … |
| Paulina Lake, OR (Central Oregon, Oregon, US West Region, USA) |
250,000 ac-ft | Set in the high desert country of central Oregon, Paulina Lake is one of two sparkling lakes resting in the caldera of Newberry Crater. Part of Newber … |
| C. J. Strike Reservoir (Idaho, Southwestern Idaho, US West Region, USA) |
247,000 ac-ft | The C. J. Strike Reservoir in Southwestern Idaho offers a wealth of opportunities to enjoy nature. Formed in 1952 when a hydroelectric dam was built a … |