Studies have shown that the lagoon lakes Blagodati and Golubichnoe, located in the Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve, and the tectonic lake Vaskovskoe, also located in the northeast of the Primorsky Krai, contain different carbon contents in their DOM and POM. These lake are also distinguished in the enrichment of the particulate matter with organic carbon and in the structural dynamics of the optically active components of the DOM. These differences are conditioned by the entire geological history of the formation of these lakes, which has determined the landscape features of the lake catchment areas and the conditions for the functioning of the lake ecosystems. The characteristics studied for the organic matter have shown that a more intense transformation occurs in the small lakes than in the streams, and that this fact is closely related to the hydrological conditions because it is most pronounced in dry years.