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 |
|---|---|---|
| Canadice Lake, NY (Finger Lakes Region, NY, New York, US Mid-Atlantic Region, USA) |
35,599 ac-ft | The smallest of New York’s famous Finger Lakes, Canadice Lake measures just 3 miles long and 1/2 mile wide. Its 640 acres are almost wholly undevelope … |
| Whitefish Lake WI (Lake Superior Northwoods Region, WI, US Midwest Region, USA, Wisconsin) |
35,502 ac-ft | Surrounded by beautiful scenery, Whitefish Lake is a remote and picturesque area in Wisconsin’s Sawyer County. Its quiet surroundings are home to towe … |
| Electric Lake (Castle Country, UT, Panoramaland Region, UT, US West Region, USA, Utah) |
35,500 ac-ft | (Also known as Electric Reservoir) Electric Lake lies like a high-altitude jewel amid one of Utah’s most spectacular recreational playgrounds. Bordering both the Panoramaland and Castle … |
| Tappan Lake (Northeast Ohio, Ohio, US Midwest Region, USA) |
35,100 ac-ft | (Also known as Tappan Reservoir) Tappan Lake is a 2,350-acre reservoir in Northeast Ohio, one of a series of lakes managed by the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District. The U.S. Ar … |
| DeQueen Lake, AR (Arkansas, Ouachitas Region, AR, US South Region, USA) |
34,900 ac-ft | (Also known as Lake DeQueen) DeQueen Lake, proud owner of 32 miles of picturesque shoreline, is nestled in Arkansas’s Ouachita Mountains Region. Located in Sevier County on the Ro … |
| Clear Lake, IA (Iowa, North Central Iowa, US Midwest Region, USA) |
34,800 ac-ft | Clear Lake is located in Cerro Gordo County in northern Iowa. At 3,684 acres it is one of the largest natural lakes in the state. Clear Lake is one of … |
| Neesopah Reservoir, CO (Colorado, Southeast Colorado, US West Region, USA) |
34,372 ac-ft | (Also known as Nee Sopah Reservoir) Its acres and acres of grasses and grains and endless uninterrupted views have inspired legends and songs about the Great Plains. Tucked away in the s … |
| Chetek Chain of Lakes, WI (Lake Superior Northwoods Region, WI, US Midwest Region, USA, Wisconsin) |
33,911 ac-ft | (Also known as Six Lakes) Tucked in the midst of the Wisconsin’s Lake Superior Northwoods Region lies the Chetek Chain of Lakes, also known as Six Lakes. Centuries ago, inhabit … |
| Spruce Run Reservoir, NJ (New Jersey, Skylands Region, NJ, US Mid-Atlantic Region, USA) |
33,758 ac-ft | Spruce Run Reservoir is one of the oldest reservoirs in the state of New Jersey. Constructed in the 1960s to meet an increasing need for water supplie … |
| Bumping Lake, WA (South Central Washington, US West Region, USA, Washington) |
33,700 ac-ft | (Also known as Bumping Reservoir) Lying near the shadow of Mt. Rainier, Bumping Lake is the first of six reservoirs owned and operated by the Bureau of Reclamation. Part of the Yakima … |
| Lake St. Catherine, VT (Crossroads of Vermont, US New England Region, USA, Vermont) |
33,448 ac-ft | (Also known as Lake St Catherine, Lake Saint Catherine) Lake St. Catherine is a 930-acre lake located in the Crossroads of Vermont tourism region, along Route 30 south of the Town of Poultney. Lake St Cathe … |
| Lake James, IN (Indiana, North Indiana, US Midwest Region, USA) |
33,171 ac-ft | Roughly 10,000 years ago the same receding glaciers that filled the Great Lakes created kettle holes in Northeast Indiana that resulted in a chain of … |