Largest lakes & reservoirs in Alabama 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 32 articles we have published for Alabama lakes.
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Below are lakes within USA > US South Region > Alabama > Compared by water volume. This list does not represent all lakes in Alabama, only the 32 Alabama lake articles we have published on the LakeLubbers website.
Lake name  |
Water vol. in ac-ft |
Lake description |
|---|---|---|
| Lake Martin, AL (Alabama, Metropolitan Region, AL, US South Region, USA) |
1,626,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Martin Lake) Lake Martin, located in Central Alabama near Alexander City, stretches out over 44,000 acres with an incredible 750 miles of shoreline. Nestled within… |
| Lewis Smith Lake, AL (Alabama, Mountains Region, AL, US South Region, USA) |
1,390,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Smith Lake) Lewis Smith Lake is a perfect place for an outdoor adventure. Tucked into a corner of the Bankhead National Forest in northern Alabama’s Mountain Regi… |
| Wheeler Lake, AL (Alabama, Mountains Region, AL, US South Region, USA) |
1,050,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Wheeler Reservoir) Wheeler Lake in northern Alabama’s Mountain Region is the state’s second-largest lake at 67,100 acres. The Tennessee Valley Authority created Wheeler… |
| Lake Guntersville, AL (Alabama, East Tennessee, Mountains Region, AL, Tennessee, US South Region, USA) |
1,049,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Guntersville Lake, Guntersville Reservoir) Alabama’s Mountain Region contains the state’s largest lake: Lake Guntersville. Cradled in the Appalachian foothills of northern Alabama, it’s located… |
| Walter F. George Lake, AL/GA (Alabama, Georgia, Plantation Trace Region, GA, Presidential Pathways Region, GA, River Heritage Region, AL, US South Region, USA) |
934,400 ac-ft | (Also known as Eufaula Lake, Walter F. George Reservoir, Lake Chattahoochee) Walter F. George Lake straddles 85 miles of the Georgia/Alabama border along the Chattahoochee River. Visitors will see varying names for the lake dep… |
| West Point Lake, AL/GA (Alabama, Georgia, Metropolitan Region, AL, Presidential Pathways Region, GA, US South Region, USA) |
604,527 ac-ft | West Point Lake, located on the Alabama-Georgia border just north of I-85, stretches 35 miles along the Chattahoochee River. The 25,900-acre reservoir… |
| Wilson Lake, AL (Alabama, Mountains Region, AL, US South Region, USA) |
586,600 ac-ft | (Also known as Wilson Reservoir) Once known as the “Smallmouth Capital of the World,” outdoor enthusiasts enjoy Wilson Lake for its fishing, boating, hiking, and exploring the natural… |
| Pickwick Lake, AL/MS/TN (Alabama, Hills Region, MS, Mississippi, Mountains Region, AL, Tennessee, US South Region, USA, West Tennessee) |
492,700 ac-ft | (Also known as Pickwick Reservoir) Pickwick Lake is a 43,100-acre reservoir created by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) with construction of Pickwick Landing Dam across the Tennesse… |
| Lake Wedowee, AL (Alabama, Metropolitan Region, AL, US South Region, USA) |
426,000 ac-ft | (Also known as R. L. Harris Reservoir, Harris Lake) Lake Wedowee, also known as the R. L. Harris Reservoir, is tucked in the foothills of the Talladega and Appalachian Mountains. The lake is an impoundm… |
| William ‘Bill’ Dannelly Reservoir, AL (Alabama, River Heritage Region, AL, US South Region, USA) |
332,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Lake Dannelly, Millers Ferry, Dannelly Reservoir, Millers Ferry Reservoir, Millers Ferry Lake) Along the Alabama River in the River Heritage region of the state, visitors will find the William “Bill” Dannelly Reservoir. Located an hour southwest… |
| Logan Martin Lake, AL (Alabama, Metropolitan Region, AL, US South Region, USA) |
273,387 ac-ft | (Also known as Lake Logan Martin) Logan Martin Lake, located about 30 miles east of Birmingham in east central Alabama, is a 15,263-acre reservoir popular for boating, fishing, and oth… |
| Bankhead Lake, AL (Alabama, Metropolitan Region, AL, US South Region, USA) |
269,215 ac-ft | Much more like the river it began as than the lake it is now, Bankhead Lake winds it way through the Metropolitan region of Alabama. With twists and t… |