Sources: KUTV, Nov. 5, 2026; Washington County Water Conservancy District current projects; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers public notice SPK-2004-50485; 890 KDXU, Jan. 28, 2026; and The Salt Lake Tribune, May 7, 2026. Details below are drawn from those public records and reports.
If you live in Ivins or Santa Clara, you have probably heard people mention “Graveyard Reservoir” as shorthand for a project that is still getting its footing. The official name is the Graveyard Wash Reservoir. It is a planned water-infrastructure reservoir along Old Highway 91, not a recreation lake and not the same place as Ivins Reservoir at Fire Lake Park.
Where it sits
According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers public notice for permit application SPK-2004-50485, the roughly 82-acre project site is adjacent to Old Highway 91 on Graveyard Wash, about 1,100 feet upstream of the wash’s confluence with the Santa Clara River, between Santa Clara and Ivins in Washington County. That places it beside the Old Highway 91 corridor — not at Gunlock State Park and not in central Ivins.
Santa Clara City planning maps from a February 2026 council work-meeting packet show the same corridor in more detail. On those GIS layers the light-blue area is labeled Future Graveyard Wash — a proposed reservoir footprint for planning, not a finished lake — alongside a proposed Hamblin Parkway alignment. Neither the parkway nor any annexation shown on the maps should be read as completed projects.
The Corps notice describes a proposed 75-foot earthen dam that would create about a 2,000 acre-foot reservoir. The Washington County Water Conservancy District’s current-projects page lists Graveyard Wash Reservoir at about 2,100 acre-feet. Public listings therefore commonly use a range of roughly 2,000 to 2,100 acre-feet, depending on which agency document you are reading.
Who owns it and what it is for
The district’s project page says Graveyard Wash Reservoir will be owned and operated by St. George City, as part of the broader Regional Reuse System that the Washington County Water Conservancy District is advancing with its partners. The Corps notice lists the City of St. George as the permit applicant.
On the district page, the reservoir is described as storage for non-potable reuse water from the St. George Reuse Facility for secondary irrigation and agricultural exchange. In plainer terms: treated reclaimed water that is not drinking water can be banked when demand is low (including winter production) and drawn when summer irrigation needs rise. Reporting in The Salt Lake Tribune quotes St. George Water Services Director Scott Taylor saying the city’s reuse plant has historically been down from October to April because there was nowhere to put the water, and that Graveyard would allow winter production to be stored for summer use.
The Corps public notice also states that the applicant identified a need to help meet a contractual obligation to provide the Shivwits Band of Paiute Indians with 2,000 acre-feet of water annually. The Salt Lake Tribune has separately reported that, under the band’s 2001 water-rights settlement framework, St. George is obligated to provide the Shivwits Band with 2,000 acre-feet of reuse water each year. Graveyard Wash is part of the infrastructure conversation around that reuse commitment; it is not, by itself, a new residential water allocation for a particular subdivision.
Cost and where the project stands
The district lists an estimated cost of $24.4 million for Graveyard Wash Reservoir and notes that estimated costs from its master plan are subject to change as projects move through design and procurement. On that same page the project appears under the 2028 construction window in the capital program.
In January 2026, Washington County Water Conservancy District General Manager Zach Renstrom said on 890 KDXU that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had approved the final federal permit after about a five-year process, and that construction could begin later that year. As of this writing there is no confirmed groundbreaking to report as a completed fact.
On Nov. 5, 2026, KUTV reported Renstrom saying that if Graveyard Reservoir existed amid the current runoff, “we would fill the reservoir completely full of this runoff water,” and that the project “should be under construction here in the next couple months.” Treat that as the district’s stated expectation, not as proof that crews are already on site. Earlier procurement and planning materials discussed in local coverage have pointed toward a notice to proceed around early 2027 and completion around late 2028; those remain planning targets until the district or St. George publishes a firm construction schedule.
This fall’s rain puts storage in context
KUTV’s Nov. 5 report from Gunlock State Park said Gunlock Reservoir had risen roughly 27 feet since early October, was at about 109% capacity, and was spilling. District officials described four storage projects — Graveyard Wash, Warner Valley, Chief Toquer and Cove — as tools that can collect excess river water in wet years and take reuse water in dry years. KUTV noted Chief Toquer is nearly complete and expected to begin collecting water in the spring for agriculture. This article keeps the focus on Graveyard Wash because it is the project closest to the Ivins–Santa Clara corridor along Old Highway 91.
What it is not
I have not found an official recreation, fishing or boating plan for Graveyard Wash Reservoir. It is being planned as a water-infrastructure reservoir. It should not be confused with Ivins Reservoir / Fire Lake Park, and nothing in the sources above describes it as a future Fire Lake–style park.
What it means if you own or want a home near Ivins
For homeowners and buyers around Ivins, Santa Clara and the west side of the St. George area, the practical takeaway is about regional water reliability, not a promise attached to any one lot. Reuse storage can support secondary and agricultural water management and help the region bank treated water when it is available. That is useful context in a desert market where water infrastructure is part of long-term planning.
It does not, by itself, approve a particular development, guarantee new culinary supply for a specific parcel, or change HOA watering rules overnight. If you are buying or selling, treat agency documents and city or district updates as the source of truth for timing and purpose, and ask how secondary versus culinary water is handled for the property you care about.
More to explore
- Ivins homes for sale and Santa Clara homes for sale
- Washington County real estate overview
- Housing growth and development in Washington County
- All articles from The OwnUtah Journal
- OwnUtah.com home
Sources
- KUTV: Four new reservoirs planned as record rainfall boosts Southern Utah water supply (Nov. 5, 2026)
- Washington County Water Conservancy District: Current projects (Graveyard Wash Reservoir)
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District: SPK-2004-50485 Graveyard Wash Project public notice
- 890 KDXU: The Graveyard Wash permits have been approved (Jan. 28, 2026)
- The Salt Lake Tribune: St. George-area water managers coverage (May 7, 2026)
- Utah Public Meeting Notice PDF (1160435)
- WCWCD Reuse Fact Sheet (PDF)
- WCWCD Regional Reuse Purification System map (PDF, January 2025)
- Utah Legislature interim materials (PDF)
- Santa Clara City Council Work Meeting packet, Feb. 25, 2026 (PDF) — GIS maps on pages 21–22
Questions about living near Ivins or along the Santa Clara River corridor? I am glad to talk through the local picture — without the hype.
— Robert Bolar, REALTOR®, Summit Sotheby's International Realty
801-737-3333 · Robert@OwnUtah.com