A red sun low over Slim Lake through wildfire haze, its reflection a column of orange on the water

Reservoirs in New York

59 of 1,613 graded New York lakes (4%) are man-made reservoirs in the USACE National Inventory of Dams. 36 carry a High or Significant hazard rating.

Reading the New York reservoir landscape

59 reservoirs in New York appear in the USACE National Inventory of Dams. That's a meaningful share — reservoir lakes carry their own ecology and access patterns distinct from natural lakes, including managed water levels, drawdowns timed to the dam's purpose, and shoreline mix dominated by structures built post-impoundment.

Recreation is the headline purpose for the largest share of New York's reservoirs — lakes where the dam exists explicitly to create surface water for fishing, boating, and adjacent shoreline development. Pool levels are typically maintained more stably than at flood-control or hydro reservoirs, which supports fixed-dock access, consistent boat ramps, and the kind of shoreline economy that natural-lake counterparts in the state share.

The USACE National Inventory of Dams (NID) catalogs every dam in the United States above a size threshold — typically 25 feet in height or 50 acre-feet in maximum storage, plus all dams classified as high-hazard regardless of size. The reservoir records below pull NID fields (year built, hazard class, maximum storage, surface area at normal pool, dam length, primary purpose) and pair them with water-quality data where the impoundment also appears in EPA's lake-monitoring inventory.

Why these New York reservoirs were built

Recreation

Other

Navigation

Water Supply

Fire Protection, Stock, Or Small Fish Pond

Total reservoirs

20,021

Total surface acres

342,664

Normal storage (ac-ft)

High or Significant hazard

All 59 New York reservoirs (by surface area)

Reservoir	County	Grade	Surface area	Year built	Purpose	Hazard
Otisco Lake	Onondaga	NR	2,291 ac	1956	Recreation	High
Lake Placid	Essex	NR	2,173 ac	1904	Recreation	Low
Hemlock Lake	Livingston	NR	2,054 ac	1926	Water Supply	High
Peck Lake	Fulton	NR	1,300 ac	1910	Other	Significant
Lake Bonaparte	Lewis	NR	1,286 ac	1933	Other	Low
Silver Lake	Wyoming	NR	761 ac	1982	Recreation	Significant
Canadice Lake	Ontario	NR	657 ac	1947	Water Supply	High
Galway Lake	Saratoga	NR	564 ac	1982	Recreation	High
Deruyter Reservoir	Madison	NR	560 ac	1863	Navigation	High
South Lake	Herkimer	A	499 ac	1901	Recreation	High
Lincoln Pond	Essex	NR	475 ac	1911	Recreation	High
Cuba Lake	Allegany	NR	465 ac	1872	Recreation	High
Friends Lake	Warren	NR	450 ac	1954	Recreation	Low
Deer River Flow Lake	Franklin	NR	403 ac	1904	Recreation	Low
Burden Lake	Rensselaer	NR	369 ac	1916	Recreation	Significant
Tuscarora Lake	Madison	NR	362 ac	1850	Navigation	High
Kinderhook Lake	Columbia	NR	350 ac	1886	Other	Low
Findley Lake	Chautauqua	NR	330 ac	1820	Recreation	Low
Brantingham Lake	Lewis	NR	327 ac	1914	Recreation	Low
Sleepy Hollow Lake	Greene	NR	324 ac	1972	Recreation	High
Lake Moraine	Madison	NR	260 ac	1836	Navigation	High
Jamesville Reservoir	Onondaga	NR	252 ac	1874	Navigation	High
Pleasant Lake	Fulton	NR	248 ac	1926	Other	Low
Lake Carmel	Putnam	NR	240 ac	1930	Recreation	High
Pleasure Lake	Sullivan	NR	218 ac	1875	Recreation	High
Hadlock Pond	Washington	NR	194 ac	1896	Recreation	High
Lime Lake	Cattaraugus	NR	154 ac	1850	Recreation	Significant
Upper Little York Lake	Cortland	NR	150 ac	2015	Recreation	Significant
Bradley Brook Reservoir	Madison	NR	141 ac	1878	Other	Significant
Otter Lake	Oneida	NR	135 ac	1880	Recreation	Low
Oquaga Lake	Broome	NR	134 ac	—	Recreation	Low
Hatch Lake	Madison	NR	134 ac	1836	Recreation	Low
Canada Lake	Fulton	NR	128 ac	1923	Recreation	Significant
Robinson Pond	Columbia	NR	125 ac	1915	Recreation	Significant
Kirk Lake	Putnam	NR	124 ac	1871	Recreation	Significant
Duane Lake	Schenectady	NR	120 ac	1926	Recreation	Low
Roaring Brook Lake	Putnam	NR	112 ac	1959	Recreation	High
Genegantslet Lake	Chenango	NR	112 ac	1900	Recreation	High
Lake Luzerne	Warren	NR	111 ac	1860	Recreation	Significant
Sagamore Lake	Putnam	NR	96 ac	1946	Recreation	Significant
Plymouth Reservoir	Chenango	NR	77 ac	1827	Recreation	Significant
Guilford Lake	Chenango	NR	74 ac	1827	Water Supply	High
Barrett Pond	Putnam	NR	70 ac	1920	Recreation	Low
Swamp Pond	Sullivan	NR	64 ac	1920	Recreation	Low
Sage Pond	Oswego	NR	60 ac	1957	Recreation	Significant
Kasoag Lake	Oswego	NR	58 ac	1820	Recreation	Low
Seven Hills Lake	Putnam	NR	56 ac	1957	Recreation	Low
Lake Peekskill	Putnam	NR	52 ac	1928	Recreation	High
China Pond	Putnam	NR	45 ac	1927	Recreation	Low
Ellis Lake	Cortland	NR	43.6 ac	1902	Recreation	High
Lake Tibet	Putnam	NR	40 ac	1950	Fire Protection, Stock, Or Small Fish Pond	Low
Beaver Lake	Broome	NR	40 ac	1939	Recreation	Low
Deer Lake	Broome	NR	32 ac	—	Recreation	Low
Lake Forest	Warren	NR	28 ac	1973	Recreation	Low
Howlands Lake	Westchester	NR	26 ac	1895	Recreation	Significant
Lake Lincolndale	Westchester	NR	22 ac	1935	Recreation	High
Truitt Pond	Chenango	NR	19 ac	1947	Recreation	Low
Lake Lucille	Rockland	NR	17 ac	1935	Recreation	High
Anawanda Lake	Sullivan	NR	9 ac	1952	Recreation	Low

Frequently Asked Questions

How many reservoirs are in New York?

59 of 1,613 graded New York lakes (4%) are man-made reservoirs in the USACE National Inventory of Dams. 36 are rated High or Significant hazard, meaning failure would put downstream lives or property at substantial risk. The oldest matched dam dates to 1820.

What's the largest reservoir in New York?

The largest matched reservoir in New York is Otisco Lake in Onondaga County at 2,291 acres of normal surface area, impounded by the Otisco Lake Dam (completed 1956).

What's the difference between a reservoir and a natural lake?

A reservoir is a body of water impounded by a man-made dam — typically built for flood control, hydroelectric power, water supply, irrigation, or recreation. A natural lake formed without human intervention, usually from glacial scouring, volcanic activity, or river meandering. Reservoirs typically have shoreline that fluctuates with seasonal water level management, while natural lakes have more stable shorelines. The USACE National Inventory of Dams classifies every regulated dam in the United States, which is how we identify which LakeQuality lakes are actually reservoirs.

What does the hazard class mean?

USACE assigns each dam a hazard potential classification based on what would happen downstream if the dam failed — NOT how likely the dam is to fail. "Low" hazard means dam failure would cause no probable loss of life and only low economic loss. "Significant" means probable loss of life is unlikely but appreciable economic damage would occur. "High" means probable loss of life and significant economic damage. The classification is about consequence, not condition. Many High-hazard dams are perfectly safe; they're rated High because populated areas have grown downstream over time.

Where does this reservoir data come from?

Every reservoir record on this page is matched to the USACE National Inventory of Dams (NID), the federal database of all dams ≥25 ft tall or impounding ≥50 acre-feet, plus any dam that poses a Significant or High hazard regardless of size. The NID is published by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and updated annually. Surface area, storage capacity, dam height, and hazard classification come directly from NID records.

Where to stay near New York reservoirs

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More on reservoirs and water quality

Are Reservoirs Cleaner Than Natural Lakes?

Dam-built reservoirs and natural lakes graded side by side on the same nutrient and algae measurements — the gap, the reasons behind it, and the exceptions.

Do Deeper Lakes Have Better Water Quality?

Surveyed maximum depth against A–F nutrient-and-algae grades: the pattern, the shallow lakes that still grade an A, and why land use beats bathymetry.

Lake Water Quality Grades Explained: What A–F Means

How lakes are graded A–F on nutrients and algae using EPA ecoregion condition classes, what each letter means in the water, and why an A is not a clearance.

Why Lakes Turn Green: Phosphorus and Nutrient Pollution

How phosphorus and nutrient runoff drive algae growth and turn lakes green, where the nutrients come from, and what it means for a lake's grade.

Data source

Reservoir data from the USACE National Inventory of Dams (NID), the federal database of all regulated dams. Dam attributes (height, year completed, storage capacity, hazard class) are matched to LakeQuality lakes by proximity and dam-name similarity. Some lakes may be reservoirs that aren't matched if the dam record uses a name substantially different from our lake name.