The new lake Toquerville
Named for the same leader the town honors, and filling right now
Chief Toquer Reservoir, the lake most towns wait generations for.
A new 3,725 acre foot reservoir is taking shape near Toquerville, built to capture water a decades old reservoir near New Harmony has been losing to seepage. Utah State Parks took over management in July 2026. Here is the full project, and the honest word on when recreation actually opens.
Start here
A lake most towns wait generations for.
Chief Toquer Reservoir, named for the same Paiute leader Toquerville itself honors, is a new reservoir taking shape near I-15 close to the Anderson Junction interchange, built to hold up to 3,725 acre feet of water. It is part of a larger regional effort, the Ash Creek Project, an approximately 94 million dollar initiative built around a roughly 19 mile pipeline connecting the older Ash Creek Reservoir near New Harmony to this new, better sited reservoir near Toquerville.
The project exists because the old Ash Creek Reservoir has been losing water to seepage for years. Rather than let that water go to waste, the pipeline captures it and moves it to Chief Toquer Reservoir instead, with treated water also helping preserve Toquerville's own spring water supply for drinking rather than diverting it for other uses. It is as much a water security project as a recreation one.
In July 2026, management of the reservoir passed to Utah State Parks, a genuine marker of how far the project has progressed. What that transition does not yet mean is a fully open recreation site: filling a reservoir this size takes time and depends on snowpack and inflow as much as construction schedules.
Chief Toquer Reservoir, at a glance
3,725 ac-ft
maximum capacity
~19 mi
pipeline from Ash Creek Reservoir
~$94M
the Ash Creek Project's total cost
Jul 2026
management handed to Utah State Parks
Why this project exists
Water lost to seepage, captured instead.
The original Ash Creek Reservoir sits near New Harmony, built decades ago alongside I-15, and for years it has lost meaningful water to seepage rather than delivering it where it is actually needed. Rather than accept that loss, the Washington County Water Conservancy District built the Ash Creek Project around a pipeline that captures water at the source and delivers it to a new, better engineered reservoir near Toquerville instead.
The dam itself is a substantial piece of infrastructure, engineered to hold back a reservoir covering roughly 115 acres at full capacity. Treated water moving through the same system also helps preserve Toquerville's own Toquerville Springs supply for potable use, which ties the project directly to the town's own drinking water picture, not only to future recreation.
That dual purpose, water security first, recreation second, is worth understanding before treating this purely as a future lake. The engineering exists to solve a real water loss problem, and the fishing, kayaking and paddleboarding recreation this companion's ranked list mentions is a genuine but secondary benefit once the reservoir fills.
This is a working water project first, a recreation site second. Chief Toquer Reservoir exists primarily to capture water otherwise lost to seepage and to help secure Toquerville's own drinking water supply. Recreation access follows once the lake fills, and current status should be confirmed with Utah State Parks before planning a visit around it.
What comes next
Filling first, recreation after.
Reservoirs of this size fill on a schedule set by snowpack and inflow as much as by construction milestones, so treat any specific opening date for boating, fishing or paddling as an estimate rather than a promise. The Utah State Parks management handoff in July 2026 is the clearest signal yet that the site is moving toward public recreation, but it is not the same thing as a finished, fully operational state park.
For now, the honest way to enjoy Chief Toquer Reservoir is to watch it take shape: a genuine piece of regional infrastructure landing on Toquerville's doorstep, one that most towns this size would never see arrive in their own lifetime, let alone within a single decade of major growth elsewhere in town.
A lot of towns talk about wanting more water infrastructure. Toquerville is getting an entire new reservoir, and the honest thing to do is watch it fill rather than promise a recreation season before the water has arrived.
Keep reading
More of Toquerville on The Local.
Things to do
The top 7, ranked
Seven picks, ranked, from the rough road to the falls to the new lake filling nearby.
Read the guideThe waterfall
Toquerville Falls
A real waterfall on La Verkin Creek, and the rough road that filters out the wrong vehicle.
Read the guideThe history
The Wine Mission
Six families, an oasis in the desert, and a winery Brigham Young ordered up by name.
Read the guideThe interchange
Anderson Junction
The I-15 interchange and the new parkway carrying Toquerville's fastest growth in 165 years.
Read the guideMoving here
The Parkway Decade
Two markets under one city name, and how to tell which one you are buying into.
Read the guideThe companion
Toquerville, from a local
The waterfall, the new lake, the wine mission history, and the whole honest story in one place.
Read the pageQuick answers
The reservoir, answered.
As of this writing it is filling rather than fully open, with Utah State Parks having taken over management in July 2026. Check current status with Utah State Parks directly before planning a trip specifically for fishing, kayaking or paddleboarding.
It is built to hold up to 3,725 acre feet of water at full capacity, with the reservoir covering roughly 115 acres. That makes it a substantial piece of regional infrastructure, not a small pond.
Primarily from a roughly 19 mile pipeline connecting it to the older Ash Creek Reservoir near New Harmony, part of the broader Ash Creek Project. That pipeline captures water the older reservoir has been losing to seepage, rather than letting it go to waste.
Mainly to capture water lost to seepage at the older Ash Creek Reservoir near New Harmony and secure it for the region, while treated water flowing through the same system helps preserve Toquerville's own spring water supply for drinking. Recreation is a genuine but secondary benefit once the lake fills.
Utah State Parks, which took over management in July 2026. That handoff is a clear sign of the project's progress, though it does not by itself mean the site is fully open for public recreation.
The same Paiute leader Toquerville itself is named for. His band lived along lower Ash Creek when settlers arrived in the area in 1858.
The broader Ash Creek Project, which includes the pipeline and the reservoir, has been reported at roughly 94 million dollars. Treat that figure as a snapshot from public reporting rather than a fixed final number.
Indirectly, and positively. Treated water moving through the same Ash Creek Project system helps preserve Toquerville's own Toquerville Springs supply for potable use, so the project supports the town's drinking water security alongside its future recreation value.
No. Chief Toquer Reservoir is a built reservoir near the Anderson Junction interchange, fed by a pipeline from the Ash Creek Reservoir near New Harmony. Toquerville Falls is a natural waterfall on La Verkin Creek in a different part of the area entirely. The two are unrelated except for both being near the same town.
New water infrastructure usually means new growth right behind it.
A reservoir this size rarely lands near a small town without reshaping what gets built nearby over the following decade. I can help you understand what that actually means for property near Toquerville right now, before the lake fully fills.