Largest lakes & reservoirs in Nevada 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 13 articles we have published for Nevada lakes.
Thinking about booking a Nevada 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 > Nevada > Compared by water volume. This list does not represent all lakes in Nevada, only the 13 Nevada 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… |
| 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… |
| Pyramid Lake, NV (Nevada, Renoe-Tahoe Territory, NV, US West Region, USA) |
23,660,000 ac-ft | Pyramid Lake is a true natural wonder located in the Pyramid Lake Paiute Indian Reservation in western Nevada. Covering 117,400 acres, it is the third… |
| Walker Lake, NV (Nevada, Nevada Silver Trails, NV, US West Region, USA) |
2,200,000 ac-ft | Walker Lake is a natural lake located in rural Mineral County, Nevada about 75 miles southeast of Reno, Nevada. It is one of several freshwater termin… |
| 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… |
| Rye Patch Reservoir, NV (Cowboy Country, NV, Nevada, US West Region, USA) |
196,000 ac-ft | Rye Patch Reservoir is located on the Humboldt River in Pershing County, Nevada. The reservoir was completed in 1936 and provides flood control and ir… |
| Lahontan Reservoir, NV (Nevada, Pony Express Territory, NV, US West Region, USA) |
178,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Lake Lahontan) Lahontan Reservoir is located about 45 miles northeast of Carson City, Nevada, on the Carson River. The Lahontan Dam was completed in 1915 and impound… |
| Wild Horse Reservoir, NV (Cowboy Country, NV, Nevada, US West Region, USA) |
71,500 ac-ft | (Also known as Wildhorse Reservoir) Wild Horse Reservoir, also known as Wildhorse Reservoir, is located along the Owyhee River in the deserts of northeastern Nevada near the Idaho border… |
| Topaz Lake, CA/NV (California, High Sierra Region, CA, Nevada, Renoe-Tahoe Territory, NV, US West Region, USA) |
59,440 ac-ft | (Also known as Topaz Reservoir) Topaz Lake is a man-made reservoir located on the border of Nevada and California, about 75 miles south of Reno, Nevada. The reservoir was built on th… |
| Washoe Lake, NV (Nevada, Renoe-Tahoe Territory, NV, US West Region, USA) |
38,000 ac-ft | Washoe Lake, along with the smaller Little Washoe Lakes, is located in western Nevada between Carson City and Reno. Nestled in peaceful Washoe Valley,… |
| Adams-McGill Reservoir (Nevada, Nevada Silver Trails, NV, US West Region, USA) |
3,300 ac-ft | (Also known as Wayne E. Kirch Wildlife Management Area, Tule Reservoir, Dacey Reservoir, Cold Springs Reservoir, Haymeadow Reservoir, Sunnyside Reservoir) An oasis for birds, waterfowl, fish and wildlife in the midst of Nevada’s Great Basin desert surrounds little-known Adams-McGill Reservoir. This nearl… |