i have a lake called artist lake that is 30 acres and a pond called stump pond that is 100 acres why is this i thought ponds are smaller than lakes?

Technically the definition has to do with depth, not size. In a pond sunlight penetrates all the way to the bottom, in a lake is does not.

A crystal clear pond might be 10 or 15' deep, but that same "pond" with stained water would be a lake.

According to the Missouri Botanic Gardens:

A pond is a body of water shallow enough to support rooted plants. A lake is too deep to support rooted plants except near the shore.

o ok i see thanks RW

I was wondering about this too.  Thanks for addressing it.

yea, thanks roadwarrior

The definition of a lake is: a body of water that is at least 2m deep and holds water year around.  Acreage doesn't matter.

my pond does that matt. lol

I thought a lake had river basins going to it, and a pond did not.

and what about lakes with lilly pads?

can't much argue with the book though.  it doesn't talk back.

I had believed a lake was a body of water that had a water source flowing into it. Any water source: river, stream, underground spring, etc. In that case a pond has no imcoming water (besides rain).

To me that would seem like a good rule of thumb but I can't argue with a book either.

A LAKE IS SMALLER THAN A OCEAN AND A POND IS BIGGER THAN A TUB ;D

In south Texas it's neither, it's a tank.

I think I heard Ray Scott say once, in reference to building a private lake or pond:

"A lake is what you have on a piece of property you are trying to sell, and a pond is the same body of water on a piece of property you are trying to buy!"

In Danielsville, Pa there are ponds that are spring feed as well I know the owner of one. Some ponds are clear in the early Spring but late Summer turn green due to alge blooms would that change them from a pond to a lake ???  ;D

Chow

The Pa Angler

lmfao  

this about sums it up I think!  

A LAKE IS SMALLER THAN A OCEAN AND A POND IS BIGGER THAN A TUB ;D

I fish on an Army post with about 20 lakes/ponds. Almost all are identical (small size, less than 6 feet deep and weedy, man made from damming) yet some are called ponds and some are called lakes, with no apparent reasoning behind the naming.

According to dictionary.com:

Lake n.

1.  A large inland body of fresh water or salt water.

2.  A scenic pond, as in a park.

Pond n.

A still body of water smaller than a lake.

Jeff Foxworthy might say:  If someone can stand on the bank and see the entire body of water...you might be a pond.