The dam that formed the IJsselmeer lies about 25 feet (8 m) above sea level and is 19 miles (31 km) long, extending between the provinces of Noord-Holland and Friesland. The dam was constructed of boulder clay backed by sand and is faced with stone to just below water level, on a base of boulders resting on mats of willow. There is a highway and bicycle path along the top of the dam; locks provide passage for barges and small seagoing craft. Regulated by sluices, the formerly brackish water has been replaced by fresh water, partly by inflow from the IJssel River, a branch of the Rhine River. This source of fresh water is valuable to Noord-Holland and Zuid-Holland and Friesland during occasional summer droughts and also helps to improve their brackish marshlands. The original fishing for herring, anchovies, and flounder has been replaced by freshwater fisheries, chiefly for eels. In spring, the eel larvae, born in the Sargasso Sea (a large tract of relatively still water in the North Atlantic Ocean) enter the lake through the locks.

Large parts of the lake's total area of 1,328 square miles (3,440 square km) have been reclaimed by constructing encircling dikes and pumping the water out. As a result, the land area of The Netherlands has been increased by 626 square miles (1,620 square km) of fertile polders.