Largest lakes & reservoirs in Arizona 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 24 articles we have published for Arizona lakes.
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Below are lakes within USA > US Southwest Region > Arizona > Compared by water volume. This list does not represent all lakes in Arizona, only the 24 Arizona lake articles we have published on the LakeLubbers website.
Lake name  |
Water vol. in ac-ft |
Lake description |
|---|---|---|
| Lake Mead, AZ/NV (Arizona, Las Vegas Territory, NV, Nevada, US Southwest Region, US West Region, USA, West Coast Region, AZ) |
28,537,000 ac-ft | Lake Mead is the USA’s largest man-made reservoir in amount of water it can hold. Although Lake Powell is marginally larger in acreage at full-pond, L… |
| 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 Mohave, AZ/NV (Arizona, Las Vegas Territory, NV, Nevada, US Southwest Region, US West Region, USA, West Coast Region, AZ) |
1,818,330 ac-ft | Lake Mohave is a man-made reservoir on the Colorado River that spans 28,260 acres. It is a part of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, and was cre… |
| Roosevelt Lake, AZ (Arizona, North Central Arizona, US Southwest Region, USA) |
1,653,043 ac-ft | (Also known as Theodore Roosevelt Lake, Lake Roosevelt) With 21,500 acres at full pond and 128 miles of shoreline, Roosevelt Lake is the largest body of water contained entirely within Arizona; the larger L… |
| San Carlos Lake, AZ (Arizona, North Central Arizona, US Southwest Region, USA) |
900,000 ac-ft | San Carlos Lake is on the San Carlos Apache Native American Reservation in north-central Arizona. With 19,500 surface acres of water when full, San Ca… |
| Lake Pleasant, AZ (Arizona, North Central Arizona, US Southwest Region, USA) |
688,500 ac-ft | (Also known as New Lake Pleasant) One of the finest water recreation areas in Arizona, Lake Pleasant is true to its name – a pleasant oasis in a desert setting. Lake Pleasant’s 9,200 s… |
| Lake Havasu, AZ/CA (Arizona, California, Desert Region, CA, US Southwest Region, US West Region, USA, West Coast Region, AZ) |
648,000 ac-ft | Lake Havasu’s 20,400 acres, formed behind Parker Dam on the Colorado River, is a boating paradise. Around Lake Havasu City, the most recognizable sigh… |
| Apache Lake, AZ (Arizona, North Central Arizona, US Southwest Region, USA) |
245,138 ac-ft | Surrounded by the stark and rugged beauty of Central Arizona’s Superstition Wilderness in the Tonto National Forest, Apache Lake is the perfect destin… |
| Bartlett Lake, AZ (Arizona, North Central Arizona, US Southwest Region, USA) |
178,186 ac-ft | (Also known as Bartlett Reservoir) When driving across Arizona, it is always an amazing experience to come upon a lake. With the desert landscape surrounding the water, the lake jumps o… |
| Alamo Lake, AZ (Arizona, US Southwest Region, USA, West Coast Region, AZ) |
159,000 ac-ft | Alamo Lake is an outdoor person’s wonderland with great fishing, a unique Sonoran desert landscape and a plethora of desert animals. Wildlife viewing… |
| Horseshoe Reservoir, AZ (Arizona, North Central Arizona, US Southwest Region, USA) |
131,427 ac-ft | Horseshoe Reservoir, in the Arizona Central Region, is a seldom-visited surprise. Horseshoe Lake, as it is often called, was created in 1946, when a d… |
| Saguaro Lake, AZ (Arizona, North Central Arizona, US Southwest Region, USA) |
69,175 ac-ft | (Also known as Saguaro Reservoir) Saguaro Lake is located in the Tonto National Forest within Maricopa County, about 40 miles east of Phoenix. It is a true desert oasis for Valley resi… |