Lakes / California / Merced County / Big Water Lake
Big Water Lake, California
91 acres
Surface Area
Where It Sits, and How Deep It Goes
Locator - California
37.03 degrees N, 120.75 degrees W - Merced County. State and county outlines drawn from Census boundary data; the lake marker is placed by its USGS National Hydrography Dataset coordinates, not by eye. Schematic - not a survey map.
How Big Water Lake Stacks Up
- Larger than 53% of the 1,147 lakes counted in California.
- About 57 miles from Fresno, as the crow flies.
Lakes Nearby
| Lake | County | Distance | Surface Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flat Pond | Merced | 0.9 mi | 56 acres |
| Mud Slough | Merced | 3.2 mi | 56 acres |
| Mud Slough | Merced | 4.8 mi | 63 acres |
| Upper Ruth Lake | Merced | 6.7 mi | 29 acres |
| Big Buttonwillow Lake | Merced | 7.6 mi | 68 acres |
| Little Buttonwillow Lake | Merced | 7.9 mi | 66 acres |
Straight-line distance between lake centers.
Facts and Figures
Questions About Big Water Lake
How Big Is Big Water Lake?
Big Water Lake covers 91 acres in Merced County, California.
What Is the Largest Lake in Merced County?
San Luis Reservoir is the largest lake in Merced County, at 12,831 acres.
Largest Lakes in California
| # | Lake | County | Surface Area | Max Depth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Salton Sea | Imperial | 233,096 acres | - |
| 2 | Lake Tahoe | Placer | 122,975 acres | - |
| 3 | Goose Lake | Modoc | 93,048 acres | - |
| 4 | Honey Lake | Lassen | 59,917 acres | - |
| 5 | Mono Lake | Mono | 45,124 acres | - |
All 1,147 California lakes ranked by surface area
Sources: USGS NHD (The National Map NHD MapServer layer 12) named waterbodies FTYPE 390/436; counties via Census point-in-polygon lake data (ID 102757739). Verified October 30, 2026.