# Ponds and Lakes: Is there any technical difference? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 22, 2005, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ponds-and-lakes-is-there-any-technical-difference/318112 "2005-08-22T15:06:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ponds-and-lakes-is-there-any-technical-difference/318112/21 "2005-08-23T01:20:06Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > Ponds are generally spring or seepage fed, and have no inlets or outlets. Lakes have streams which fill them and streams which drain them. The waters of a lake should end up in one of the oceans as a result. > [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > Tahoe’s got streams feeding into it, thereby negating pond status by definition. But Tahoe’s waters don’t end up in one of the oceans; its outlet, the Truckee River, disappears into Nevada’s Great Basin. So, although I like your definition, you may want to revise the bit about requiring an ocean destination. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ponds-and-lakes-is-there-any-technical-difference/318112/22 "2005-08-23T02:16:41Z")
> [@Antonius Block](#): > > But Tahoe’s waters don’t end up in one of the oceans; its outlet, the Truckee River, disappears into Nevada’s Great Basin. So, although I like your definition, you may want to revise the bit about requiring an ocean destination. That’s why I said that the waters of a lake _should_ end up in an ocean, not that they must. 😉 Really, I’m no expert in the field, I’m just giving the general rule of thumb with which I was familiar with. I’m in no position to defend said definitions as laws of nature or anything. And it seems that the whole issue of defining “lake” vs. “pond” is being managed pretty sloppily by the Powers That Be, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ponds-and-lakes-is-there-any-technical-difference/318112/23 "2005-08-23T02:17:17Z")
Ever see a pond marked on the map ? Ever heard of a pond with a name ? Actually I have heard of only two ponds with a name . Golden Pond and a farmers pond that I used to play hockey on in Niagara-on-the Lake that we kids called Dawson’s Pond. ---
**Author:** ![Kaotic\_Newtral](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@Kaotic\_Newtral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaotic_Newtral)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ponds-and-lakes-is-there-any-technical-difference/318112/24 "2005-08-23T02:19:48Z")
I grew up in ND/MN…there’s quite a few lakes in the area. What I’d always heard is…‘You can’t cast across a lake’. When I look at bodies of water now, I always remember that as my guideline. ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ponds-and-lakes-is-there-any-technical-difference/318112/25 "2005-08-23T02:44:23Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > That’s why I said that the waters of a lake _should_ end up in an ocean, not that they must. 😉 Ah, OK. It seems to me, however, that if you’re going to give moral guidelines for water, there needs to be a corresponding punishment for non-compliant rivers (although come to think of it, ending up in the middle of Nevada might be punishment enough). 😛 > [@grienspace](#): > > Ever see a pond marked on the map? Ever heard of a pond with a name? There are tons of named ponds in New England, many marked as such on maps. One particularly famous one is [Walden Pond](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walden_Pond). ---
**Author:** ![snailboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@snailboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snailboy)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ponds-and-lakes-is-there-any-technical-difference/318112/26 "2005-08-23T03:31:34Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > Tahoe’s got streams feeding into it, thereby negating pond status by definition. My father lived at a house with a small body of water about 100 feet by 30 feet through which a small creek ran. I think it would be quite a stretch to call it a lake, especially when it never got over about 4 feet deep. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ponds-and-lakes-is-there-any-technical-difference/318112/27 "2005-08-23T06:42:39Z")
How about Lake Pend Oreille? Isn’t that both a lake and a pond? [For those who don’t get it, Pend Oreille is pronounced ‘pond or AY’.] ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ponds-and-lakes-is-there-any-technical-difference/318112/28 "2005-08-23T07:55:50Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > God, I know I’m going to get screamed at for this, but… unless its name is Huron, Superior, Michigan, or Ontario, it’s just a pond. Maybe, just maybe, we can throw Erie in there, too. Oh, what the hell, Lake St. Clair, too, since the idea of ships passing through ponds is kind of silly. “[Lake]Baikal’s volume, at 23,600 km3, is greater than any other fresh water lake and makes approximately 20 percent of the world’s surface fresh water. As a point of comparison, if you were to drain Lake Baikal, it would take the Great Lakes of the United States: Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario to refill the empty basin.” I got your pond right here, buddy. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ponds-and-lakes-is-there-any-technical-difference/318112/29 "2005-08-23T13:02:48Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > It’s like the difference between hills and mountains. Everyone agrees that one is bigger than the other, but that’s about it. Isn’t there a height requirement to be a mountain? Otherwise the movie _The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill but Came Down A Mountain_ lied. ---
**Author:** ![Doobieous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Doobieous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doobieous)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ponds-and-lakes-is-there-any-technical-difference/318112/30 "2005-08-23T15:33:56Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] Tahoe’s got streams feeding into it, thereby negating pond status by definition. [QUOTE] That was a sarcastic response based upon Chronos’ assertation that you cannot see the other side of a “true” lake. ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ponds-and-lakes-is-there-any-technical-difference/318112/31 "2005-08-23T15:44:19Z")
A park ranger once told my family that a pond has vegetation growing from the bottom at its deepest point, while a lake doesn’t. I suppose that’s a rough measure of depth also. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ponds-and-lakes-is-there-any-technical-difference/318112/32 "2005-08-23T23:49:44Z")
> [@Chairman Pow](#): > > Isn’t there a height requirement to be a mountain? Otherwise the movie _The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill but Came Down A Mountain_ lied. That’s specific to England or perhaps the UK. But note that the highest point in England (at around 3000 ft) would be considered a valley in other parts of the world. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ponds-and-lakes-is-there-any-technical-difference/318112/33 "2005-08-23T23:55:56Z")
> [@Chairman Pow](#): > > Isn’t there a height requirement to be a mountain? Otherwise the movie _The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill but Came Down A Mountain_ lied. The earlier USGS cite discusses just this. They said that the 1000 feet designation was abandoned in the 1920s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ponds-and-lakes-is-there-any-technical-difference/318112.md?page=1)