Rivers..Ocean..Sea... Lake...Pond..Creek (Agency, Table Rock: move to, homeowner, farmers)

[leftcoastescapee]

I like that definition, Inox
But depth, still has to be a factor,doesn't it ?!

[Northwoods Voyager]

Our lake is man made. It has a water shed of many acres. Run off from rain water is what flows into our 110 acre lake. The neighbor has a cattle pond. It also has rain water running into it. An old dictionary defines a pond as 'a body of 'still' water, smaller than a lake. It defines a lake as: a large inland body of water. Another dictionary has a similar definition. And still, another has a slightly different description.

However, I will remain convinced, of what contractors have told me: Artificial body of water as a depression in the ground is a pond. Larger body of water, held back by a dam is a lake. Go figure. Will research more later this week.

[Inoxkeeper]

Originally Posted by leftcoastescapee

I like that definition, Inox
But depth, still has to be a factor,doesn't it ?!

If I recall correctly Rend lake in So. IL is very shallow...as is the lake in my home town, it has a river feeding it but is only about 10' deep as it has silted in over the years.

[christina0001]

IMO - a pond is small enough where you it's easy to see its entire size or most of it with the naked eye, standing in one spot. A lake stretches further than the eye can see.

[Lake Junkie]

This is a wonderful discussion to happen upon...where is Plains 10 in all of this?

[2beamissourian]

lol lake junkie who knew I could start such a wonderin thought ??? umm did I do that again? lol

Where I live at we have Crystal Lakes .. its 3 lakes that are blocked by a damn and have small bridges over it ..its a community lake ........... I have swam from one side to the other ..(shhhhhhhhh) I have walked across it with ice ( yes my mother knew because it cracked and I went feet first into the water ...dumb farm boys talking me into doing stupid stuff)
I can see from one side to the other on all angles ......... and they are lakes



Rivers - I know there are some that look like creek beds ........
South Canadian in Oklahoma - what makes it a river? Hubby drove his Baja across it ! ..

What we refer to as a pond in my yard ........... is spring fed .....over 20' deep ... and has a over flow and a levy that leads to a creek that runs through our property ............
Vegitation does not grow in the deep points and I can not imagine light penetrating to the earth through the water ...

I think this site will make me awful smart .........and this sort of stuff makes me go hmmmmmmmmmmm who knows maybe I will just go back to college and be something different ............... lol maybe finger painting every day is getting to me!

[Versatile]

I was always told that: Lake: A body of water that you cannot see all of it from any one point and larger than five acres.
Pond: Any body of water smaller than five acres.

Seems to be lot's of opinions on this one.

[kareybear]

Hey you alll I just figure out the best way to name this thingie..... Let's call it a SWAMP!!!! What yah think???? No confusion

[GraniteStater]

As far as I know most large bodies of water in Missouri are reservoirs. Table Lake, Truman, Clinton, and Stockton are reservoirs. I am more of a lake person, but reservoirs are good enough for most people.

[Lake Junkie]

According to the US Government's Environmental Protection Agency, lakes come in many types. Reservoirs are also lakes. They are all lentic systems regardless of the source:


Lentic systems generally include lakes and ponds. A lake's structure has a significant impact on its biological, chemical, and physical features. Some lentic systems may be fresh water bodies, while others have varying levels of salinity (e.g., Great Salt Lake). Most basin-type wetlands are also generally grouped within lentic systems; these are areas of constant soil saturation or inundation with distinct vegetative and faunal communities. Lakes and ponds are almost always connected with streams in the same watershed, but the reverse is not nearly as often true.
The method of lake formation is the basis for classifying different lake types. Natural processes of formation most commonly include glacial, volcanic, and tectonic forces while human constructed lakes are created by dams or excavation of basins. In his classic review of lake types, Hutchinson (1957) describes 76 different types of lakes.

They form into groups: Glacial lakes, Tectonic lakes, Volcanic lakes, Landslide lakes, Solution lakes, Plunge pools, Oxbow lakes & Beaver/Human-made lakes.

You can find out more at Watershed Ecology.

As to when a pond becomes a lake, I'm cool with the 5 acre thing.


Plains 10...I think you're a lake snob. But U still RK.