The Heinz Center's State of the Nation's Ecosystems
ecosystem: Freshwater
indicator Name: Extent of Freshwater Ecosystems: Ponds, Lakes and Reservoirs
page # in printed report: 139
location on page: middle-upper
data source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Wetlands Inventory (NWI); Coverage: lower 48 states. Lake area does not include the Great Lakes, which cover about 60.2 million acres within the United States.
notes: please see technical notes for further details on accessing these data from their original source; this data table comes from a specific graphic in The State of the Nation's Ecosystems report (www.heinzctr.org/ecosystems)

units: million acres
  lakes & reservoirs ponds
1955 13.7 2.7
1975 14.6 5
1985 14.8 5.3
1995 14.8 5.9