List of reservoirs by volume

The classification of a reservoir by volume is not as straightforward as it may seem. As the name implies, water is held in reserve by a reservoir so it can serve a purpose. For example, in Thailand, reservoirs tend to store water from the wet season to prevent flooding, then release it during the dry season for farmers to grow rice. For this type of reservoir, almost the entire volume of the reservoir functions for the purpose it was built. Hydroelectric power generation, on the other hand, requires many dams to build up a large volume before operation can begin. For this type of reservoir only a small portion of the water held behind the dam is useful. Therefore, knowing the purpose for which a reservoir has been constructed, and knowing how much water can be used for that purpose, helps determine how much water is in possible reserve.

Terminology

The following terms are used in connection with the volume of reservoirs:

Expanded versus artificial lakes

The list below largely ignores many natural lakes that have been augmented with the addition of a relatively minor dam. For example, a small dam, two hydroelectric plants, and locks on the outlet of Lake Superior make it possible to artificially control the lake level. Certainly, the great majority of the lake is natural. However, the control of water that can be held in reserve means a portion of the vast lake functions as a reservoir.
Recognition of lakes like Lake Superior greatly changes the list below. For example, the Francis H. Clergue Generating Station and Saint Marys Falls Hydropower Plant, which are both on the lake's outlet, operate with just 5.9 meters total head. This is short compared to other dams. However, when viewed against the 81,200 km2 area of the lake, even a small range in Lake Superior's water level means its active volume is greater than the largest nominal in the table below.

List

Rank	Reservoir	Dam	River	Country	Year	Nominal volume km³
1	Lake Kariba	Kariba Dam	Zambezi River	and	1959	180.6	, 160.3
2	Bratsk Reservoir	Bratsk Dam	Angara River		1964	169	, 169.3
3	Lake Volta	Akosombo Dam	Volta River		1965	150	, 148
4	Manicouagan Reservoir	Daniel-Johnson Dam	Manicouagan River		1968	141.85	, 141.7
5	Guri Reservoir	Guri Dam	Caroní River		1986	135
6	Lake Nasser	Aswan High Dam	Nile River	and	1971	132
7	Millennium Reservoir	Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam	Blue Nile River		2023	79
8	Williston Lake	W. A. C. Bennett Dam	Peace River		1967	74.3
9	Krasnoyarsk Reservoir	Krasnoyarsk Dam	Yenisei River		1967	73.3
10	Zeya Reservoir	Zeya Hydroelectric Station	Zeya River		1978	68.4
11	Robert-Bourassa Reservoir	Robert-Bourassa generating station	La Grande River		1981	61.71
12	La Grande-3 Nord Reservoir	La Grande-3 generating station	La Grande River		1981	60.02
13	Ust-Ilimsk Reservoir	Ust-Ilimsk Dam	Angara River		1977	59.3
14	Boguchany Reservoir	Boguchany Dam	Angara River		2012	58.2
15	Kuybyshev Reservoir	Zhiguli Hydroelectric Station	Volga River		1955	58
16	Cahora Bassa	Cahora Bassa Dam	Zambezi River		1974	55.8
17	Serra da Mesa Reservoir	Serra da Mesa Dam	Tocantins River		1998	54.4
18	Caniapiscau Reservoir	Brisay generating station	Caniapiscau River		1981	53.8
19		Pati–Chapetón	Paraná River		?	53.7
20	Bukhtarma Reservoir	Bukhtarma Hydroelectric Power Plant	Irtysh River		1967	53
21	Danjiangkou Reservoir	Danjiangkou Dam	Han River		1962	51.6
22	Atatürk Reservoir	Atatürk Dam	Euphrates		1992	48.7
23	Irkutsk Reservoir	Irkutsk Dam	Angara River		1956	46
24	Lago Tucuruí	Tucuruí Dam	Tocantins River		1984	45.54
25	Los Barreales Lake	Loma de la Lata Dam	Neuquén River		1973	27.7
26	Mari Menuco reservoir	Planicie Banderita hydroelectric power plant	Neuquén River		1979	13.8
27	Three Gorges Reservoir	Three Gorges Dam	Yangtze River		2009	39.3
28	Lake Mead	Hoover Dam	Colorado River		1936	37.3
30	Roseires Reservoir	Roseires Dam	Blue Nile		1966	36.3
31	Vilyuy Reservoir	Vilyuy Dam	Vilyuy River		1967	35.9
32	Lake Powell	Glen Canyon Dam	Colorado River		1964	35.55
33	Lake Argyle	Lake Argyle Dam	Ord River		1971	35
34	Nechako Reservoir	Kenney Dam	Nechako–Kemano		1966	35
35	Sobradinho Reservoir	Sobradinho Dam	São Francisco River		1979	34.1
36	Smallwood Reservoir	Churchill Falls	Churchill River		1971	32.64
37		Jenpeg Dam	Lake Winnipeg outlet		1975	31.79
38	Keban Dam Lake	Keban Dam	Euphrates		1971	31.5
39	Volgograd Reservoir	Volga Hydroelectric Station	Volga River		1958	31.5
40	Sayano-Shushenskoye Reservoir	Sayano-Shushenskaya Dam	Yenisei River		1990	31.3
41	Lake Sakakawea	Garrison Dam	Missouri River		1953	30.22
42	Lake Kossou	Kossou Dam	Bandama River		1961	30
43		Iroquois Dam	St. Lawrence River		1958	29.96
44	Lake Oahe	Oahe Dam	Missouri River		1966	29.11
45	Lake Itaipu	Itaipu Dam	Paraná River	and	1983	29
46	Rybinsk Reservoir	Rybinsk Dam	Volga River		1941-1947	25.4
47	Fort Peck Lake	Fort Peck Dam	Missouri River		1930	23.1
47	La-Grande 4 Reservoir	La Grande-4 generating station	La Grande River		1984	19.5
48	Kakhovka Reservoir	Kakhovka Dam	Dnieper River		1956	0
49	Sanmenxia Reservoir	Sanmenxia Dam	Yellow River		1962	16.2
50	Mingachevir reservoir	Mingachevir Dam	Kura River		1953	15.73
51	Merowe Reservoir	Merowe Dam	Nile River		2009	12.50