What defines a pond?

It may surprise you to know there is no technical difference between lakes and ponds, according to the National Park Service(Opens in a new window). However, a general rule of a thumb is if a body of water is large and deep it's a lake and if it's short and shallow it's a pond.



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For example, if sunlight can reach the bottom of the entire body of water, it's generally considered a pond, according to the National Park Service. Conversely, if the body of water is deep enough in some places that sunlight cannot penetrate it, it's generally considered a lake.

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A pond is a body of water less than 0.5 acres (150 square meters) in an area or less than 20 feet (6 meters) in depth. A lake is defined as a body of water bigger than 1 acre (4,000 m²), although size is not a reliable indicator of its water quality.

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There is no absolute definition between the two. The one used most often is the 5-acre rule: Ponds are less than 5 acres while lakes are more than 5 acres. Since most ponds across the country are less than an acre, we will use the term pond for the sake of this blog post.

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From a naming convention, there is no precise difference between a lake and pond, although waterbodies named “lakes” are generally larger and/or deeper than waterbodies named “ponds.” From an ecological or limnological perspective, there is a difference between the two.

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In the U.S. a pond is defined as a body of water with a surface area of less than ten acres (40,000 square metres). By that definition, a puddle could be classed as a pond. On the other side of the 'Big Pond' (aka the Atlantic Ocean), in some parts of England, a pond is only called a pond if it is man-made.

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A reservoir is an artificial lake where water is stored. Most reservoirs are formed by constructing dams across rivers.

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