Largest lakes & reservoirs in Michigan 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 90 articles we have published for Michigan lakes.
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Below are lakes within USA > US Midwest Region > Michigan > Compared by water volume. This list does not represent all lakes in Michigan, only the 90 Michigan lake articles we have published on the LakeLubbers website.
Lake name | Water vol. in ac-ft | Lake description |
---|---|---|
White Lake MI (Michigan, US Midwest Region, USA, West Central Michigan) |
61,614 ac-ft | Will White Lake again become the economic driver for the cities of Whitehall and Montague in Michigan’s West Central Region? That’s entirely possible … |
Lac Vieux Desert, MI/WI (Lake Superior Northwoods Region, WI, Michigan, US Midwest Region, USA, Upper Peninsula Region, MI, Wisconsin) |
49,128 ac-ft | (Also known as Lac Vieux Lake) Lac Vieux Desert is the French name for this 4,260-acre lake of Michigan and Wisconsin. The name was given by French fur trappers who were among the f … |
Cass Lake, MI (Michigan, Southeast Michigan, US Midwest Region, USA) |
33,065 ac-ft | Michigan is fortunate to have many fishing and water sport destination options. Cass Lake, just a 30-mile ride from Detroit, is a popular freshwater l … |
Otsego Lake MI (Michigan, Northwest Michigan, US Midwest Region, USA) |
19,325 ac-ft | A plane’s deep droning in the distance becomes louder and louder as visitors at Otsego Lake look up towards the sky. Those new to the scene quickly re … |
Orchard Lake, MI (Michigan, Southeast Michigan, US Midwest Region, USA) |
17,402 ac-ft | Orchard Lake is a 788-acre natural lake in southeastern Michigan, just three miles from the city of Pontiac and 25 miles from Detroit. This residentia … |
Klinger Lake, MI (Michigan, Southwest Michigan, US Midwest Region, USA) |
17,092 ac-ft | Klinger Lake in Saint Joseph County has been a top recreation and fishing spot in western lower Michigan for well over 150 years. Located less than th … |
Tittabawassee Lakes (East Central Michigan, Michigan, Northeast Michigan, US Midwest Region, USA) |
13,899 ac-ft | (Also known as Secord Lake, Sanford Lake, Smallwood Lake, Wixom Lake) The Tittabawassee River is one of Michigan’s main river systems, draining lands in the Northeast and East Central Michigan regions into the Saginaw Ri … |
Silver Lake, MI (Michigan, Northwest Michigan, US Midwest Region, USA) |
13,887 ac-ft | Pushing her kayak out into the water of Silver Lake, she glides through the early morning mist rising off the surface of the water. With steady, stron … |
Upper Herring Lake (Michigan, Northwest Michigan, US Midwest Region, USA) |
12,466 ac-ft | Upper Herring Lake is a modestly sized naturally occurring freshwater lake in the Traverse City Lakes area of Michigan, located in the northwestern pa … |
Pentwater Lake (Michigan, US Midwest Region, USA, West Central Michigan) |
10,600 ac-ft | (Also known as Pent Water Lake) Oceana County, Michigan, is home to Pentwater Lake, a 483-acre natural freshwater lake with a very irregular shape. Pentwater Lake’s shoreline is 8.6 … |
Whitmore Lake (Michigan, Southeast Michigan, US Midwest Region, USA) |
9,590 ac-ft | By far the most popular residential lake in the Ann Arbor area is Whitmore Lake. For nearly 100 years this natural lake in the Southeast region of Mic … |
Wall Lake, MI (Michigan, Southwest Michigan, US Midwest Region, USA) |
7,051 ac-ft | One of 300 lakes found among the rolling grasslands and open fields of Michigan’s Southwest tourism region, Wall Lake is a private residential lake. L … |