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 Otis, FL (Florida, US South Region, USA, West Central Florida) |
1,916 ac-ft | There’s something special about Lake Otis. Florida’s West Central Region is wealthy in lakes. Winter Haven in Polk County sits in the middle of a huge… |
| Lake Carnegie (Delaware River Region, NJ, New Jersey, US Mid-Atlantic Region, USA) |
1,906 ac-ft | (Also known as Carnegie Lake) Although steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie is remembered for his library donations, one of his lesser-known gifts to society is Lake Ca… |
| Oak Lake, WI (Lake Superior Northwoods Region, WI, US Midwest Region, USA, Wisconsin) |
1,796 ac-ft | As a kayaker slides into Wisconsin’s Oak Lake, he notices the dense mix of hardwood pines surrounding the lake’s edge. The thick tree line separates t… |
| Marindahl Lake, SD (South Dakota, Southeast Region, SD, US Midwest Region, USA) |
1,747 ac-ft | (Also known as Marindahl Reservoir) Marindahl Lake, in South Dakotas’s Southeast Region, isn’t the kind of lake you’ll find on lists of the world’s greatest lakes. Indeed, you may not be… |
| Hungry Mother Lake (Blue Ridge Highlands, VA, US South Region, USA, Virginia) |
1,728 ac-ft | Surrounded by mountain vistas, the 108-acre Hungry Mother Lake is the recreational centerpiece of southwestern Virginia’s 2,180-acre Hungry Mother Sta… |
| Fateh Sagar (India, Rajasthan Region, West India, West India) |
1,703 ac-ft | A shining jewel in the crown of lakes surrounding the Rajasthan city of Udaipur is Fateh Sagar. This 988-acre artificial lake serves as a water supply… |
| Andover Lake, CT (Connecticut, River Valley Region, CT, US New England Region, USA) |
1,523 ac-ft | Located in the town of Andover in northeastern Connecticut, Andover Lake provides a wonderful sense of community that only private lakes can offer. An… |
| Lake Naomi, PA (Northeastern Mountains Region, PA, Pennsylvania, US Mid-Atlantic Region, USA) |
1,492 ac-ft | Lake Naomi, located in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania, offers residents and visitors alike four seasons of recreation. During every… |
| Crooked Lake, IL (Chicagoland Region, IL, Illinois, US Midwest Region, USA) |
1,488 ac-ft | In a landscape dotted by glacial lakes and wetlands, Crooked Lake is in the aptly named Lake County of Illinois. Situated in the Chicagoland tourist r… |
| Lake Winona (Lakes Region, NH, New Hampshire, US New England Region, USA) |
1,480 ac-ft | If there’s one lake in central New Hampshire whose origin is mired in historical heartache, it’s Lake Winona. This private 148-acre freshwater lake, o… |
| Oxford Furnace Lake, NJ (New Jersey, Skylands Region, NJ, US Mid-Atlantic Region, USA) |
1,440 ac-ft | (Also known as Furnace Brook Watershed #2 Dam) What was once built for practical purposes of flood and erosion control is now a quiet lake area known as Oxford Furnace Lake in Warren County, New Je… |
| Lake Huntington (Catskills Region, NY, New York, US Mid-Atlantic Region, USA) |
1,386 ac-ft | Tucked away in the Catskills region of New York, Lake Huntington is just a few miles from the long and winding Delaware River and the border of Pennsy… |