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 |
|---|---|---|
| American Lake, WA (Seattle & Puget Sound Region, WA, US West Region, USA, Washington) |
60,000 ac-ft | Less than three miles inland from Puget Sound, American Lake is one of the lesser known vacation destinations in Washington’s Seattle-King County Regi … |
| Great East Lake, ME/NH (Lakes Region, NH, Maine, New Hampshire, Southern Coast Region, ME, US New England Region, USA) |
59,993 ac-ft | Great East Lake is a paradise for anyone who enjoys a relaxing time. With over 1700 acres of water and 12 miles of shoreline, Great East Lake is known … |
| Fishing Creek Reservoir, SC (Olde English District, SC, South Carolina, US South Region, USA) |
59,992 ac-ft | (Also known as Nitrolee Dam, Fishing Creek Lake) Fishing Creek Reservoir, on the Catawba River in the Old English Region of South Carolina is aptly named: the 3112-acre lake provides a steady source … |
| Lake Tulloch, CA (California, Gold Country Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
59,935 ac-ft | (Also known as Tulloch Lake) An impoundment of the Stanislaus River, Lake Tulloch is part of a much larger water system and provides water for both irrigation and recreation. With … |
| Topaz Lake, CA/NV (California, High Sierra Region, CA, Nevada, Renoe-Tahoe Territory, NV, US West Region, USA) |
59,440 ac-ft | (Also known as Topaz Reservoir) Topaz Lake is a man-made reservoir located on the border of Nevada and California, about 75 miles south of Reno, Nevada. The reservoir was built on th … |
| Wabana Lake (Minnesota, Northeast Minnesota, US Midwest Region, USA) |
58,018 ac-ft | (Also known as Wabana Chain of Lakes) Trilling their distinctive call, loons glide across the surface of Wabana Lake, dodging in and out of the mist rising from the exceptionally clear wat … |
| Big Birch Lake, MN (Central Minnesota, Minnesota, US Midwest Region, USA) |
57,900 ac-ft | Big Birch Lake lies at the heart of Minnesota. With sparkling water spread across Todd and Stearns County lines, Big Birch Lake is at the geographic c … |
| Canyon Lake, AZ (Arizona, Phoenix & Central Region, AZ, US Southwest Region, USA) |
57,852 ac-ft | Within the wild and rugged Arizona Superstition Wilderness lies the awe-inspiring beauty of Canyon Lake. The lake and wilderness are part of the vast … |
| Crab Orchard Lake, IL (Illinois, Southern Illinois, US Midwest Region, USA) |
57,800 ac-ft | Crab Orchard Lake is the largest of three reservoirs that are part of the 43,899-acre Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge in southwestern Williamson … |
| Canales Reservoir (Andalusia Region, Spain, Spain) |
57,318 ac-ft | (Also known as Embalse de Canales) Only a few miles east of Grenada, the Canales Reservoir is a relatively new lake in the Andalusia Region of Spain. The new reservoir is a refreshing t … |
| Deer Lake, WA (Northeast Washington, US West Region, USA, Washington) |
57,000 ac-ft | Deer Lake, located in Stevens County, Washington, is a spring-fed and snow-fed lake with approximately a 1,150-acre surface in the Colville River wate … |
| Lake Koshkonong, WI (Southern Savanna Region, WI, US Midwest Region, USA, Wisconsin) |
55,792 ac-ft | Sprawled across southern Wisconsin, just a few miles down the Rock River from Fort Atkinson, Lake Koshkonong is a fantastic place to boat and fish. Th … |