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 |
|---|---|---|
| Holt Lake, AL (Alabama, Metropolitan Region, AL, US South Region, USA) |
117,990 ac-ft | (Also known as Holt Reservoir) Holt Lake is a 3,300-acre reservoir located about five miles northeast of the City of Tuscaloosa in west-central Alabama. Holt Lake is one of six lake … |
| East Lake Tohopekaliga, FL (East Central Florida, Florida, US South Region, USA) |
116,000 ac-ft | (Also known as East Lake Toho) East Lake Tohopekaliga, often called East Lake Toho for short, is located in central Florida south of Orlando. Covering a staggering 11,968 Florida ac … |
| Kabekona Lake, MN (Minnesota, Northwest Minnesota, US Midwest Region, USA) |
115,970 ac-ft | They start almost every day this way, sitting on the deck, and watching the loons glide across Kabekona Lake. When they were ready to retire they knew … |
| Lake Alan Henry, TX (Panhandle Plains Region, TX, Texas, US Southwest Region, USA) |
115,937 ac-ft | (Also known as Alan Henry Reservoir) Lake Alan Henry, also known as Alan Henry Reservoir, is located in the Texas Panhandle Plains Region, about 45 miles south of Lubbock and four miles e … |
| Montedoglio Lake, Italy (Italy, Tuscany Region, Italy) |
115,527 ac-ft | (Also known as Lago di Montedoglio, Lake Montedoglio) Lake Montedoglio is nestled in the Province of Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy. Although Lake Montedoglio was created for irrigation and as a water source for … |
| Abiquiu Lake, NM (New Mexico, North-Central, NM, US Southwest Region, USA) |
113,735 ac-ft | (Also known as Abiquiu Reservoir) Abiquiu Lake, located in Rio Arriba County in North-Central New Mexico, offers recreation areas for swimming, camping, fishing, boating, canoeing, kay … |
| Carter Lake CO (Colorado, Front Range Region, CO, US West Region, USA) |
112,230 ac-ft | (Also known as Carter Lake Reservoir, Carter Reservoir) Carter Lake is a major source of fun for residents and visitors to the Loveland area of Colorado’s Front Range. The reservoir is one of two main stora … |
| Tomahawk Lake, WI (Lake Superior Northwoods Region, WI, US Midwest Region, USA, Wisconsin) |
111,958 ac-ft | Oneida County is known as the place “Where nature lingered longer.” With over a thousand lakes, 68,447 acres of water and tens of thousands of acres o … |
| Messalonskee Lake, ME (Kennebec & Moose River Valleys Region, ME, Maine, US New England Region, USA) |
110,427 ac-ft | (Also known as Snow Pond, Nine Mile Pond) The last lake in the Belgrade Lakes chain of lakes is 3691-acre Messalonskee Lake. Located in the Kennebec and Moose River Valleys Region, Messalonske … |
| Clinton Lake, KS (Kansas, Northeast Kansas, US Midwest Region, USA) |
110,400 ac-ft | (Also known as Clinton Reservoir) Clinton Lake is a 7,000-acre reservoir located in northeastern Kansas, just south of Interstate 70 near Lawrence (between Topeka and Kansas City). Con … |
| Tygart Lake, WV (Mountaineer Country, WV, US South Region, USA, West Virginia) |
109,600 ac-ft | The wilderness song of Tygart Lake calls to fishing enthusiasts, boaters, campers, hikers, writers and artisans. Located near the beautiful Appalachia … |
| Lake Osakis, MN (Central Minnesota, Minnesota, US Midwest Region, USA) |
108,389 ac-ft | (Also known as Osakis Lake) Lake Osakis, stretched across the prairie in the Central Region of Minnesota, has been a vacation destination for several generations of ‘lake lubbers … |