Multibeam surveys from USGS cover Crater Lake, Lake Tahoe and Mono Lake, and reservoir surveys from the Texas Water Development Board and the Bureau of Reclamation cover selected reservoirs. NOAA’s National Bathymetric Source adds measured depths for hundreds of lakes, lagoons and coastal ponds, from Lake Pontchartrain and the St. Johns River lakes to Lake Washington and Lake Pend Oreille; only the surveyed parts are used. NOAA nautical charts add Lake Okeechobee, Lake Champlain, the New York canal lakes and Michigan’s inland and harbour lakes from charted contours and soundings. Minnesota has its own page.
Each lake name below opens the studio framed to that lake’s survey area and generates its terrain. You can also search every surveyed lake or browse other regions.
Lakes with surveyed depth data
James City County
- Nayses Bay Interpolated from NOAA nautical chart contours and soundings, which are generalized for navigation. Depths are below the chart sounding datum (MLLW on tidal water), not a live water level.
- Unnamed lake, James City County Interpolated from NOAA nautical chart contours and soundings, which are generalized for navigation. Depths are below the chart sounding datum (MLLW on tidal water), not a live water level.
- Unnamed lake, James City County Interpolated from NOAA nautical chart contours and soundings, which are generalized for navigation. Depths are below the chart sounding datum (MLLW on tidal water), not a live water level.
Poquoson city
- Part of Chesapeake Bay About 100% of the lake is surveyed. NOAA National Bathymetric Source survey cells only; modelled fill is removed and uncovered parts use the basin model. Depths are below the surveys’ chart datum (MLLW on tidal water, low-water datum on the Great Lakes), not a live water level.
Chesterfield County
- Unnamed lake, Chesterfield County Interpolated from NOAA nautical chart contours and soundings, which are generalized for navigation. Depths are below the chart sounding datum (MLLW on tidal water), not a live water level.
Gloucester County
- Unnamed lake, Gloucester County Interpolated from NOAA nautical chart contours and soundings, which are generalized for navigation. Depths are below the chart sounding datum (MLLW on tidal water), not a live water level.
Isle of Wight County
- Unnamed lake, Isle of Wight County About 80% of the lake is surveyed. NOAA National Bathymetric Source survey cells only; modelled fill is removed and uncovered parts use the basin model. Depths are below the surveys’ chart datum (MLLW on tidal water, low-water datum on the Great Lakes), not a live water level.
Lancaster County
- Unnamed lake, Lancaster County About 90% of the lake is surveyed. NOAA National Bathymetric Source survey cells only; modelled fill is removed and uncovered parts use the basin model. Depths are below the surveys’ chart datum (MLLW on tidal water, low-water datum on the Great Lakes), not a live water level.
Mathews County
- Unnamed lake, Mathews County About 100% of the lake is surveyed. NOAA National Bathymetric Source survey cells only; modelled fill is removed and uncovered parts use the basin model. Depths are below the surveys’ chart datum (MLLW on tidal water, low-water datum on the Great Lakes), not a live water level.
Norfolk city
- Unnamed lake, Norfolk city Interpolated from NOAA nautical chart contours and soundings, which are generalized for navigation. Depths are below the chart sounding datum (MLLW on tidal water), not a live water level.
Northampton County
- Unnamed lake, Northampton County About 100% of the lake is surveyed. NOAA National Bathymetric Source survey cells only; modelled fill is removed and uncovered parts use the basin model. Depths are below the surveys’ chart datum (MLLW on tidal water, low-water datum on the Great Lakes), not a live water level.
Virginia Beach city
- Unnamed lake, Virginia Beach city About 84% of the lake is surveyed. NOAA National Bathymetric Source survey cells only; modelled fill is removed and uncovered parts use the basin model. Depths are below the surveys’ chart datum (MLLW on tidal water, low-water datum on the Great Lakes), not a live water level.
- Unnamed lake, Virginia Beach city About 97% of the lake is surveyed. NOAA National Bathymetric Source survey cells only; modelled fill is removed and uncovered parts use the basin model. Depths are below the surveys’ chart datum (MLLW on tidal water, low-water datum on the Great Lakes), not a live water level.
Make a lake map from this data
- Open a lake from the list. The studio frames its survey area, turns on Water depth and generates the terrain. Widen the frame and regenerate if you want more shoreline.
- Check the warnings above the preview. The studio warns when survey coverage is partial or depths are estimated; how lake depths work explains why.
- Enter your sheet thickness in Terrain layers; the studio works out the layer count. If a deep lake needs more sheets than you want, Fit depth compresses it while keeping the shoreline. The custom lake map guide walks through the whole build.
- Turn on paint templates to spray only the water on each layer, and split the map if it is bigger than your laser bed.
- Export the SVG layers. The download’s ATTRIBUTION.txt credits the survey used.
Data source
- NOAA National Bathymetric Source: Atlantic Coast lakes: surveyed grid. NOAA Office of Coast Survey National Bathymetric Source; survey sources licensed CC0 1.0 or CC BY 4.0. Only measured survey cells are used; modelled fill removed by TopoStack. Not for navigation.
- NOAA nautical charts: Atlantic Coast lakes: survey contours. NOAA Office of Coast Survey electronic navigational charts; public domain. Chart contours and soundings interpolated by TopoStack; not for navigation.
Survey dates and water levels vary between lakes, and a listing can cover only part of a lake. See sources and attribution for credits.