Largest lakes & reservoirs in 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 2151 articles we have published for lakes.
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Below are lakes within Compared by water volume. This list does not represent all lakes in , only the 2151 lake articles we have published on the LakeLubbers website.
Lake name  |
Water vol. in ac-ft |
Lake description |
|---|---|---|
| Greenleaf Lake, OK (Green Country, OK, Oklahoma, US Southwest Region, USA) |
14,720 ac-ft | Greenleaf Lake is nestled in Oklahoma’s Green Country tourism region, an area that is home to over half of Oklahoma’s state parks. This artificial fre… |
| Lewiston Lake, CA (California, Shasta Cascade Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
14,660 ac-ft | A great blue heron intent on catching fish for his breakfast stands undisturbed as a canoe glides by, holding an angler with the same idea. With nothi… |
| Lake Calhoun, MN (Minneapolis-St. Paul Metro Region, MN, Minnesota, US Midwest Region, USA) |
14,593 ac-ft | (Also known as Minneapolis Chain of Lakes) Thousands of people come to Minneapolis’ Chain of Lakes every year. The five beautiful lakes (Lake Harriet, Cedar Lake, Brownie Lake, Lake of the Isle… |
| Silver Lake Spokane County, WA (Northeast Washington, US West Region, USA, Washington) |
14,580 ac-ft | Visitors to Northeast Washington can find a lakeside paradise at Silver Lake. Only 20 minutes southwest of Spokane, Silver Lake offers nearly 500 acre… |
| Big Creek Lake, IA (Central Iowa, Iowa, US Midwest Region, USA) |
14,573 ac-ft | Big Creek Lake is located about 11 miles north of Des Moines, Iowa near the town of Polk City. The lake was created in the 1970s by the Army Corps of… |
| Manasquan Reservoir, NJ (New Jersey, Shore Region, NJ, US Mid-Atlantic Region, USA) |
14,470 ac-ft | (Also known as Manasquan County Reservoir) Manasquan Reservoir is located in Monmouth County, New Jersey. Artifacts found near the reservoir indicate that its land was once occupied by the Lena… |
| Burnsville Lake, WV (Mountain Lakes Region, WV, US South Region, USA, West Virginia) |
14,400 ac-ft | (Also known as Burnsville Reservoir) Beautiful Burnsville Lake was created by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to control flooding along the Little Kanawha River. The Corps began construc… |
| Rest Lake (Lake Superior Northwoods Region, WI, US Midwest Region, USA, Wisconsin) |
14,258 ac-ft | (Also known as Manitowish Chain of Lakes) Located in Wisconsin’s Vilas County, Rest Lake is part of the Manitowish Waters Chain which includes 10 beautiful lakes: Manitowish Lake, Little Star… |
| Seymour Lake (British Columbia, Canada, Canada) |
14,200 ac-ft | Seymour Lake may not be on everyone’s recreational radar, but this natural lake just outside of the town of Smithers, British Columbia certainly delig… |
| Butternut Lake, WI (Lake Superior Northwoods Region, WI, US Midwest Region, USA, Wisconsin) |
14,017 ac-ft | At over three miles long, Butternut Lake in Price County, Wisconsin is a lake lover’s paradise and a prime four season vacation destination. Created t… |
| Lake Hemet (California, Inland Empire Region, CA, US West Region, USA) |
14,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Lake Hemet Reservoir) Not far from the famed San Jacinto Peak in California’s Inland Empire, Lake Hemet Reservoir offers plenty of nature-focused recreation to lucky visito… |
| Highland Lake (Westbook) (Greater Portland & Casco Bay Region, ME, Maine, US New England Region, USA) |
14,000 ac-ft | (Also known as Duck Pond) Located in the Portland-Casco Bay region of southern Maine, Highland Lake is well-used and well-loved. The 623-acre lake was originally called Duck Po… |