Largest lakes & reservoirs in Colorado 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 49 articles we have published for Colorado lakes.
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Below are lakes within USA > US West Region > Colorado > Compared by water volume. This list does not represent all lakes in Colorado, only the 49 Colorado lake articles we have published on the LakeLubbers website.
Lake name  |
Water vol. in ac-ft |
Lake description |
|---|---|---|
| Navajo Lake NM (Colorado, New Mexico, Northwest New Mexico, NM, Southeast Colorado, US Southwest Region, US West Region, USA) |
1,036,100 ac-ft | (Also known as Navajo Reservoir) Navajo Lake offers a surprising and welcome expanse of water in northwestern New Mexico. The 15,600-acre reservoir stretches north into southwest Colo… |
| Blue Mesa Reservoir, CO (Colorado, Southwest Colorado, US West Region, USA) |
688,554 ac-ft | (Also known as Blue Mesa Lake) Beautiful mesas, deep canyons, and steep rocky cliffs surround Blue Mesa Reservoir, the second largest lake entirely in Colorado. The clear, blue, mou… |
| Lake Granby, CO (Colorado, Front Range Region, CO, US West Region, USA) |
539,758 ac-ft | (Also known as Granby Lake) Nestled in the shadows of the majestic Rocky Mountains near the headwaters of the Colorado River, Lake Granby is a great place for a mountain getaway.… |
| McPhee Reservoir, CO (Colorado, Southwest Colorado, US West Region, USA) |
309,563 ac-ft | In 1776 Spanish priests traveling through the Dolores Valley imagined a project that would bring water to the thirsty crops of the Montezuma Valley. B… |
| Lake Dillon, CO (Colorado, Northwest Colorado, US West Region, USA) |
234,763 ac-ft | (Also known as Dillon Reservoir) Nestled in the middle of some of Summit County’s best skiing, Lake Dillon is the perfect year round getaway. With its rich history, fantastic sport fi… |
| Horsetooth Reservoir, CO (Colorado, Front Range Region, CO, US West Region, USA) |
168,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Horsetooth Lake) On the high, arid ridges and plains of Colorado’s Front Range, Horsetooth Reservoir delights the visitor and refreshes the senses. Developed as a stor… |
| Green Mountain Reservoir (Colorado, Northwest Colorado, US West Region, USA) |
154,600 ac-ft | Thousands of tourists and recreational guests come to the Colorado Rockies each year, never knowing that Green Mountain Reservoir is only a short dist… |
| Vallecito Lake, CO (Colorado, Southeast Colorado, US West Region, USA) |
129,700 ac-ft | (Also known as Vallecito Reservoir) The quest for a reliable source of irrigation water in Colorado’s dry Southwest Region brought Vallecito Lake into being. Twenty-two miles north of Du… |
| Turquoise Lake (Colorado, Northwest Colorado, US West Region, USA) |
129,440 ac-ft | (Also known as Turquoise Reservoir) One of Colorado’s favorite high-altitude recreational destinations is Turquoise Lake. Located five miles west of vacation playground Leadville, 1,780-… |
| Carter Lake CO (Colorado, Front Range Region, CO, US West Region, USA) |
112,230 ac-ft | (Also known as Carter Lake Reservoir, Carter Reservoir) Carter Lake is a major source of fun for residents and visitors to the Loveland area of Colorado’s Front Range. The reservoir is one of two main stora… |
| Twin Lakes, CO (Colorado, South Central Colorado, US West Region, USA) |
107,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Twin Lakes Reservoir) In the mid 1800’s gold was discovered in Lake County Colorado, and everything changed. Settlers moved west seeking their fortunes and discovered not o… |
| Neegronda Reservoir, CO (Colorado, Southeast Colorado, US West Region, USA) |
97,069 ac-ft | (Also known as Nee Gronda Reservoir) Flocks of snow geese skim golden short grass prairie to land on the precious water of Neegronda Reservoir. Dotted with cottonwood trees around its sho… |