Largest lakes & reservoirs in California 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 75 articles we have published for California lakes.
Thinking about booking a California lake vacation home rental, cabin or hotel?
Use our free interactive vacation rental map to search and compare multiple vacation properties at a glance. Enter a lake name, a state or city and then simply click on a listing to compare all similar properties, best rates and availability for your dates.Search results: Sort lakes by water volume
Below are lakes within USA > US West Region > California > Compared by water volume. This list does not represent all lakes in California, only the 75 California lake articles we have published on the LakeLubbers website.
Lake name  |
Water vol. in ac-ft |
Lake description |
|---|---|---|
| Lake Tahoe, CA/NV (California, High Sierra Region, CA, Nevada, Renoe-Tahoe Territory, NV, US West Region, USA) |
122,160,280 ac-ft | Tucked into the Sierra Nevada Mountains and straddling the California-Nevada state line, Lake Tahoe is one of the most famous lakes in the United Stat… |
| Salton Sea, CA (California, Desert Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
7,500,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Salton Lake) Salton Sea, sometimes called Salton Lake, is an inland saline lake located in southern California along the Mexican border. Though hard to believe, th… |
| Shasta Lake, CA (California, Shasta Cascade Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
4,552,000 ac-ft | Shasta Lake, one of the largest lakes in California, is an outdoor paradise of fresh blue water, awe-inspiring caverns, investigative trails, first cl… |
| Trinity Lake, CA (California, Shasta Cascade Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
2,447,650 ac-ft | (Also known as Clair Engle Lake) In 1976 Tim Brady from Weaverville caught the California record smallmouth bass in Trinity Lake. The quiet lake still draws anglers today, both for th… |
| Mono Lake, CA (California, High Sierra Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
2,407,820 ac-ft | Mono Lake, located in California’s Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains, has a long and rich history dating back to its formation over 760,000 years ago. S… |
| San Luis Reservoir, CA (California, Central Valley Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
2,041,000 ac-ft | A sparkling sapphire gem carved into the eastern edge of the San Joaquin Valley, the San Luis Reservoir enjoys a scenic location in Merced County. Thi… |
| Don Pedro Lake, CA (California, Gold Country Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
2,030,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Lake Don Pedro, Don Pedro Reservoir) Don Pedro Lake, also known as Don Pedro Reservoir and Lake Don Pedro, is nestled into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. With a surface are… |
| Lake Berryessa, CA (California, Central Valley Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
1,602,000 ac-ft | Lake Berryessa, nestled into the heart of California’s wine country, is the largest lake in Napa County. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation built the Mont… |
| Clear Lake, CA (California, North Coast Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
1,155,000 ac-ft | Clear Lake’s spectacular 43,785 acres earn it the superlative of largest natural freshwater lake located entirely within the state of California. This… |
| Lake Almanor, CA (California, Shasta Cascade Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
1,142,960 ac-ft | One of the largest artificial lakes in the state, Lake Almanor lays claim to approximately 28,000 acres of northeastern California. The lake was creat… |
| Folsom Lake, CA (California, Gold Country Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
1,010,000 ac-ft | Folsom Lake lays magnificently nestled along the American River at the base of the Sierra foothills. It is surrounded by an abundance of striking scen… |
| New Bullards Bar Reservoir, CA (California, Gold Country Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
969,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Bullards Bar Reservoir) New Bullards Bar Reservoir is located on the west side of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Yuba County, California, surrounded by the Tahoe and Plumas N… |