Yes, sphere works better than lake. You can raise/lower water level by putting the water shader as child on an empty surface shader and use offset.
My example was very basic, just to proof the simple principle. I guess for a 'similar' result you should add the color stack you had and thicken the default shader masked density, or take the reflection down (or translucency), and perhaps raise the murk more (and maybe use unclamped color to displace, not an internal displacement, which also displaces downward).
