Where does Minnesota rank among U.S. states with the most water
features (lakes, rivers, wetlands)?

Bettymcm..

Minnesota ranks 2nd in the United States with 7,326 (4,854 of it
inland, ie. lakes, rivers) square miles of water area.  Minnesota also
ranks 7th among the 50 states in percentage of total area being water,
which is 5.8%.  Here are the top 10 most water covered states:

                Area    Water   Percentage of Area that is water
Rhode Island	1,212	158	13.00%
Florida	        58,664	4,511	7.70%
North Carolina	52,669	3,826	7.30%
Maine	        33,265	2,270	6.80%
Louisiana	47,752	3,230	6.80%
Maryland	10,460	623	6.00%
Minnesota	84,402	4,854	5.80%
Massachusetts	8,284	460	5.60%
Delaware	2,045	112	5.50%
New Jersey	7,787	319	4.10%

Thanks again for your question.  If you need any additional
clarification, please let me know.

Regards,

-THV

Search Strategy:
"state with the most lakes"

References:
Which state has the most lakes?
http://geography.about.com/library/faq/blqzstatelakes.htm

How much of your state is wet?
http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/wetstates.html

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Request for Answer Clarification by bettymcm-ga on 14 Jan 2003 08:07 PST

It looks like Minnesota has more surface water than any of the "lower
48." Is that correct? The percentage table excludes the Great Lakes.
Is there a source that includes all surface water in the state,
including the Great Lakes?

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Clarification of Answer by tar_heel_v-ga on 14 Jan 2003 09:38 PST

bettymcm,

You are correct in that Minnesota has the most surface water of the
lower 48 states using the definition provided.  I found another source
that includes total water area defined as "Permanent inland water
surface, such as lakes, reservoirs, and ponds having an area of 40
acres or more; streams, sloughs, estuaries, and canals one-eighth
statute mile or more in width; deeply indented embayments and sounds,
and other coastal waters behind or sheltered by headlands or islands
separated by less than 1 nautical mile of water, and islands under 40
acres in area. Excludes areas of oceans, bays, sounds, etc. lying
within U.S. jurisdiction but not defined as inland water.
"  which gives states with coastlines an advantage and moves Minnesota
to 8th in total water, 7th in the lower 48, 2nd among "land locked"
states behind Michigan.

The 7,326 square miles includes the Great Lakes.  If you take away the
Great Lakes area, the total is 4,854 square miles.

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0108355.html