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 |
|---|---|---|
| Lake Kanasatka (Lakes Region, NH, New Hampshire, US New England Region, USA) |
5,640 ac-ft | (Also known as Long Pond, Red Hill Pond) Lake Kanasatka is a clear, 371-acre freshwater lake set among New Hampshire’s towering trees and surrounded by sloping hillsides. The lake was once na… |
| Pachaug Pond, CT (Connecticut, Mystic Country Region, CT, US New England Region, USA) |
5,551 ac-ft | Pachaug Pond is nestled in the town of Griswold, in southeastern Connecticut and is the state’s largest public water body east of the Connecticut Rive… |
| Heyburn Lake, OK (Green Country, OK, Oklahoma, US Southwest Region, USA) |
5,501 ac-ft | In the Green Country of northeastern Oklahoma, Heyburn Lake lies in a setting of gently sloping hills with a thickly wooded area that celebrates each… |
| Silver Lake NH (Lakes Region, NH, New Hampshire, US New England Region, USA) |
5,500 ac-ft | Silver Lake is located in eastern New Hampshire’s Lakes tourism region, just south of the White Mountain National Forest. The lake spans almost 1,000… |
| Lake Groton (Northeast Kingdom Region, VT, US New England Region, USA, Vermont) |
5,486 ac-ft | (Also known as Groton Pond) Nestled snugly among heavily forested mountains, Lake Groton has been a favorite summer getaway for generations of ‘camp’ owners. Over 400 acres of wa… |
| Sheldon Lake, TX (Gulf Coast Region, TX, Texas, US Southwest Region, USA) |
5,354 ac-ft | (Also known as Lake Sheldon, Sheldon Resevoir) Sheldon Lake is conveniently located just 16 miles east of Houston in northeastern Harris County. This 1,230-acre reservoir covers about 800 acres of… |
| Sportsman Lake, OK (Frontier Country, OK, Oklahoma, US Southwest Region, USA) |
5,349 ac-ft | Sportsman Lake is a 354-acre flood control and recreation lake located east of the town of Seminole in central Oklahoma. Hidden in a 1400-acre wildlif… |
| Bunganut Pond (Maine, Southern Coast Region, ME, US New England Region, USA) |
5,262 ac-ft | (Also known as Bunganut Lake) A favored summer location for the southeastern coast region of Maine, Bunganut Pond offers everything the lakelubber wants-even loons. The odd name de… |
| Meadow Creek Reservoir (Colorado, Northwest Colorado, US West Region, USA) |
5,100 ac-ft | (Also known as Meadow Creek Lake) Meadow Creek Reservoir is a little Colorado lake with a well-deserved reputation as a desirable destination. Only 50 acres in size, the small reservoi… |
| Lake McQueeney, TX (Prairies and Lakes Region, TX, Texas, US Southwest Region, USA) |
5,050 ac-ft | Located in the Guadalupe River watershed, Lake McQueeney is about 7 miles southeast of New Braunfels in the Prairies and Lakes Region of Texas. Manage… |
| Gunnison Bend Reservoir, UT (Panoramaland Region, UT, US West Region, USA, Utah) |
5,000 ac-ft | Gunnison Bend Reservoir gets its name from the nearby town of Gunnison (it lies to the East of the lake), and from the big bend in the middle. It shou… |
| Amherst Lake (Eastern Vermont Gateways Region, US New England Region, USA, Vermont) |
4,860 ac-ft | (Also known as Lake Amherst, Plymouth Pond) One of four scenic lakes alongside Route 100, Amherst Lake is a picturesque spot to enjoy a vacation. Every traveler along the main route through the… |