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 |
|---|---|---|
| Lake Powell, AZ/UT (Arizona, Canyonlands Region, UT, Color Country, UT, North Central Arizona, US Southwest Region, US West Region, USA, Utah) |
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, ND (North Dakota, Northwest Region, ND, US Midwest Region, 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 … |
| Pyramid Lake, NV (Nevada, Renoe-Tahoe Territory, NV, US West Region, USA) |
23,660,000 ac-ft | Pyramid Lake is a true natural wonder located in the Pyramid Lake Paiute Indian Reservation in western Nevada. Covering 117,400 acres, it is the third … |
| Smallwood Reservoir, NL (Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada) |
23,486,361 ac-ft | Wild, diverse and always impressive, Smallwood Reservoir is not a place to be taken lightly. Smallwood Reservoir is not a place for leisurely lakeside … |
| Lake Oahe, ND/SD (Great Lakes Region, SD, North Dakota, South Central Region, ND, South Dakota, Southwest Region, ND, US Midwest Region, USA) |
23,137,000 ac-ft | Lake Oahe, named after an Oahe Indian Mission, roughly translates “a foundation” or “a place to stand on.” Spanning 231 miles from Pierre, South Dakot … |
| Lake Patzcuaro, Mexico (Central Mexico, Mexico) |
22,699,969 ac-ft | (Also known as Lago de Patzcuaro) Lake Patzcuaro, in the State of Michoacan in Central Mexico plays a key role in the history of Michoacan and indeed all of Mexico. The large volcanic … |
| Lake Biwa, Japan (Japan, Kansai Region, Japan) |
22,294,613 ac-ft | (Also known as Biwako) Lake Biwa, sometimes known as Biwa-ko, is Japan’s largest lake with more than 165,000 acres. Lake Biwa is located in Japan’s Kansai region in the Shig … |
| Karakul Lake (Tajikistan) |
21,483,810 ac-ft | (Also known as Lake Karakul, Qarakul) Mysterious, remote and beautiful describes Lake Karakul in the Pamir Region of Tajikistan. The highest lake in the country and the highest saltwater l … |
| Lake Champlain (Adirondacks Region, NY, Canada, Lake Champlain Valley Region, VT, New York, Quebec, Canada, US Mid-Atlantic Region, US New England Region, USA, Vermont) |
20,916,400 ac-ft | Lake Champlain, straddling New York and Vermont in the USA, and Quebec in Canada, is a natural freshwater lake seated 96 feet above sea level. Briefly … |
| Rybinsk Reservoir, Russia (Central Russia, Northern Russia, Russia) |
20,592,115 ac-ft | (Also known as Rybinsk Sea) Located in western European Russia, Rybinsk Reservoir is as large and impressive as Russia itself. Rybinsk Reservoir sits on the Volga River as part o … |
| Okanagan Lake, BC (British Columbia, Canada, Canada) |
19,943,545 ac-ft | (Also known as Lake Okanagan) Okanagan Lake, located in British Columbia’s Napa of the North Country, is a vacationer’s paradise. Its sheer size and convenient location make this w … |
| Fort Peck Lake, MT (Missouri River Country, MT, Montana, US West Region, USA) |
18,700,000 ac-ft | Fort Peck Lake, located 20 miles southeast of Glasgow, Montana on Montana Highway 24, is the 5th-largest man-made reservoir by volume in the United St … |