Largest lakes & reservoirs in USA 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 1644 articles we have published for USA lakes.
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Below are lakes within USA > Compared by water volume. This list does not represent all lakes in USA, only the 1644 USA lake articles we have published on the LakeLubbers website.
Lake name | Water vol. in ac-ft | Lake description |
---|---|---|
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… |
Lake Oahe, ND/SD (Great Lakes Region, SD, North Dakota, South Central Region, ND, South Dakota, Southwest Region, ND, US Midwest Region, USA) |
23,137,000 ac-ft | Lake Oahe, named after an Oahe Indian Mission, roughly translates “a foundation” or “a place to stand on.” Spanning 231 miles from Pierre, South Dakot… |
Lake Champlain (Adirondacks Region, NY, Canada, Lake Champlain Valley Region, VT, New York, Quebec, Canada, US Mid-Atlantic Region, US New England Region, USA, Vermont) |
20,916,400 ac-ft | Lake Champlain, straddling New York and Vermont in the USA, and Quebec in Canada, is a natural freshwater lake seated 96 feet above sea level. Briefly… |
Fort Peck Lake, MT (Missouri River Country, MT, Montana, US West Region, USA) |
18,700,000 ac-ft | Fort Peck Lake, located 20 miles southeast of Glasgow, Montana on Montana Highway 24, is the 5th-largest man-made reservoir by volume in the United St… |
Lake of the Woods, MN / Canada (Canada, Manitoba, Canada, Minnesota, Northwest Minnesota, Ontario, Canada, US Midwest Region, USA) |
15,700,000 ac-ft | Spanning the border from Minnesota into the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba, Lake of the Woods is an enormous body of water over 68 miles l… |
Crater Lake, OR (Oregon, Southern Oregon, US West Region, USA) |
14,100,000 ac-ft | Crater Lake is on the crest of the Cascade Range in southern Oregon, about 100 miles from the ocean, and is the centerpiece of Crater Lake National Pa… |
Seneca Lake, NY (Finger Lakes Region, NY, New York, US Mid-Atlantic Region, USA) |
12,566,054 ac-ft | Seneca Lake, one of western New York’s famous Finger Lakes, is the largest lake to be entirely contained within the borders of the state. Seneca Lake… |
Yellowstone Lake, WY (Northwest Wyoming, US West Region, USA, Wyoming) |
12,095,264 ac-ft | Yellowstone Lake is located in the southeast corner of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. The Park was established in 1872, making it the first natio… |
Lake Roosevelt, WA (Northeast Washington, US West Region, USA, Washington) |
9,402,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Lake Franklin D. Roosevelt) Lake Roosevelt, located approximately 90 miles northwest of Spokane, Washington, covers 82,000 acres with a shoreline of 630 miles. Lake Roosevelt, al… |
Cayuga Lake, NY (Finger Lakes Region, NY, New York, US Mid-Atlantic Region, USA) |
7,672,208 ac-ft | Cayuga Lake, located in western New York, is the second largest Finger Lake in both surface area and volume. Boasting 38.2 miles in length, 1.7 miles… |
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… |
Lake Koocanusa, MT / Canada (British Columbia, Canada, Canada, Glacier Country, MT, Montana, US West Region, USA) |
5,850,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Koocanusa Lake, Koocanusa Reservoir) In the far north of the United States, tucked into the northwestern end of Montana, is the long, narrow Lake Koocanusa. This lake is actually a man-ma… |