Item 1. Business
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Overview
We are a water resource management company that owns, operates, and manages water, wastewater, and recycled water utilities in strategically located communities, principally in metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona. GWRI seeks to deploy an integrated approach, which the Company refers to as “Total Water Management". Total Water Management is a comprehensive approach to water utility management that reduces demand on scarce non-renewable water sources and costly renewable water supplies, in a manner that ensures sustainability and greatly benefits communities both environmentally and economically. This approach employs a series of principles and practices that can be tailored to each community:
• Reuse of recycled water, either directly or to non-potable uses, through aquifer recharge, or direct potable reuse;
• Regional planning;
• Use of advanced technology and data;
• Employing the best subject matter experts and retaining thought and application leaders;
• Leading outreach and educational initiatives to ensure all stakeholders including customers, development partners, regulators, and utility staff are knowledgeable on the principles and practices of our Total Water Management approach; and
• Establishing partnerships with communities, developers, and industry stakeholders to gain support of our Total Water Management principles and practices.
We currently own and operate twenty-five water and wastewater systems in strategically targeted communities in metropolitan Phoenix. We currently serve more than 74,048 people in approximately 27,630 homes within our 376 square miles of certificated service areas, which are serviced by twenty-two wholly-owned regulated operating subsidiaries as of December 31, 2021. Approximately 90.9% of our active service connections are customers of our Global Water - Santa Cruz Water Company, Inc. (“Santa Cruz”) and Global Water - Palo Verde Utilities Company, Inc. (“Palo Verde”) utilities, which are located within a single service area. We have grown significantly since our formation in 2003, with total revenues increasing from $4.9 million in 2004 to $41.9 million in 2021, and total service connections increasing from 8,113 as of December 31, 2004 to 54,182 as of December 31, 2021, with regionally planned areas large enough to serve approximately two million service connections.
Our Corporate History
Global Water Resources, LLC (“GWR”) was organized in 2003 to acquire, own, and manage a portfolio of water and wastewater utilities in the southwestern region of the United States (“U.S.”). Global Water Management, LLC (“GWM”) was formed as an affiliated company to provide business development, management, construction project management, operations, and administrative services to GWR and all of its regulated subsidiaries.
In early 2010, the members of GWR made the decision to raise money through the capital markets, and GWR and GWM were reorganized to form Global Water Resources, Inc., a Delaware corporation. The members established a new entity, GWR Global Water Resources Corp. (“GWRC”), which was incorporated under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) on March 23, 2010 to acquire shares of our common stock and to actively participate in our management, business, and operations through its representation on our board of directors and its shared management. On December 30, 2010, GWRC completed its initial public offering in Canada and its common shares were listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. On June 5, 2013, the Company sold GWM.
On May 3, 2016, GWRC merged with and into the Company (the “Reorganization Transaction”). At the effective time of the merger, holders of GWRC’s common shares received one share of the Company’s common stock for each outstanding common share of GWRC. As a result of the merger, GWRC ceased to exist as a British Columbia corporation and the Company, governed by the corporate laws of the State of Delaware, was the surviving entity. The Reorganization Transaction was conditional upon the concurrent completion of an initial public offering of shares of common stock of the Company in the U.S. (the “U.S. IPO”), which was completed on May 3, 2016.
U.S. Water Industry Overview
U.S. Water Industry Areas of Business
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The U.S. water industry has two main areas of business:
• Utility Services to Customers . This business includes municipal water and wastewater utilities, which are owned and operated by local governments or governmental subdivisions, and investor-owned water and wastewater utilities. Investor-owned water and wastewater utilities are generally economically regulated, including with respect to rate regulation, by public utility commissions in the states in which they operate. The utility segment is characterized by high barriers to entry, including high capital spending requirements.
• General Water Products and Services. This business includes manufacturing, engineering and consulting companies, and numerous other fee-for-service businesses. The activities of these businesses include the building, financing, and operating of water and wastewater utilities, utility repair services, contract operations, laboratory services, manufacturing and distribution of infrastructure and technology components, and other specialized services. At present, the Company does not perform any unregulated services.
Key Characteristics of the U.S. Water Industry
In the U.S., the water industry is characterized by:
• Significant Constraints on the Availability of Fresh Water . In Arizona, the Arizona Department of Water Resources estimates that annual water usage is 7 million acre-feet per year. Arizona has the right to use 2.8 million acre-feet from the Colorado River and approximately half of that can be delivered through the Central Arizona Project, a 336 mile diversion canal from the Colorado River to central Arizona. The Colorado River is presently over-allocated, which means that more surface water right allocations have been issued than the actual average annual flow, with allocations being determined based on data from a period during which flows were significantly higher than in recent years. The Central Arizona Project is the only means of transporting Colorado River water into central Arizona. Approximately 41% of the water used in Arizona comes from groundwater. Water in the western U.S. is being pumped from groundwater sources faster than it is replenished naturally, a condition known as overdraft. In areas of water scarcity, such as the arid western U.S., water recycling represents a relatively simple, inexpensive, and energy-efficient means of augmenting water supply as compared to transporting surface water, groundwater, or desalinated water from other locations. Approximately 70% of the water provided by municipalities is currently used for non-potable applications where recycled water could potentially be utilized.
• Lack of Technology Utilization to Increase Operating Efficiencies and Decrease Operating Costs . The U.S. water industry has traditionally not taken advantage of advances in technology available to enhance revenue, increase operating efficiencies, and decrease operating costs (including labor and energy costs). Areas of opportunity include automated meter reading, systems management, and administrative functions, such as customer billing and remittance systems. Key drivers for the lack of investment in technology in water and wastewater utilities have been the historical lack of incentives offered or standards imposed by regulators to achieve efficiencies and lower costs and the ownership of the U.S. water utility sector, which largely consists of small, undercapitalized, municipally-owned utilities that lack the financial and technical resources to pursue technology opportunities.
• Highly Fragmented Ownership . The utility segment of the U.S. water industry is highly fragmented, with approximately 50,000 water utilities and approximately 16,000 community wastewater utilities, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") . The majority of the approximately 50,000 water utilities are serving a population of 5,000 or less, and 85% of the water utilities serve only 10% of the population.
• Large Public Sector Ownership . Municipally-owned utilities provide water and wastewater services for the vast majority of the U.S. population. For homes connected to a community water system, approximately 80% are provided service by municipally-owned utilities.
• Aging Infrastructure in Need of Significant Capital Expenditures . Water infrastructure in the U.S. is aging and requires significant investment and stringent focus on cost control to upgrade or replace aging facilities and to provide service to growing populations. Throughout the U.S., utilities are required to make expenditures on the rehabilitation of existing utilities and on the installation of new infrastructure to accommodate growth and make improvements to water quality and wastewater discharges mandated by stricter water quality standards. Water quality standards, first introduced with the Clean Water Act in 1972 and the Safe Drinking Water Act in 1974, are becoming increasingly stringent and numerous. For water, the American Water Works Association estimates investment needs for buried drinking water infrastructure will total more than $1 trillion over the next 25 years. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates capital investment needs to update and grow the nation’s wastewater systems has now increased to $259 billion per year over a 10-year period according to their recent press release.
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Private Sector Opportunities
Municipal water utilities typically fund their capital expenditure needs through user-based water and wastewater rates, municipal taxes, or the issuance of bonds. However, raising large amounts of funds required for capital investment is often challenging for municipal water utilities, which affects their ability to fund capital spending. Many smaller utilities also do not have the in-house technical and engineering resources to manage significant infrastructure or technology-related investments. In order to meet their capital spending challenges and take advantage of technology-related operating efficiencies, many municipalities are examining a combination of outsourcing and partnerships with the private sector or outright privatizations.
• Outsourcing involves municipally-owned utilities contracting with private sector service providers to provide services, such as meter reading, billing, maintenance, or asset management services.
• Public-private partnerships among government, operating companies, and private investors include arrangements, such as design, build, and operate contracts; build, own, operate, and transfer contracts; and own, leaseback, and operate contracts.
• Privatization involves a transfer of responsibility for, and ownership of, the utility from the municipality to private investors.
We believe investor-owned utilities that have greater access to capital are generally more capable of making mandated and other necessary infrastructure upgrades to both water and wastewater utilities, addressing increasingly stringent environmental and human health standards, and navigating a wide variety of regulatory processes. In addition, investor-owned utilities that achieve larger scales are able to spread overhead expenses over a larger customer base, thereby reducing the costs to serve each customer. Since many administrative and support activities can be efficiently centralized to gain economies of scale and sharing of best practices, companies that participate in industry consolidation have the potential to improve operating efficiencies, lower costs, and improve service at the same time.
Our Strategy
We are a water resource management company that provides water, wastewater, and recycled water utility services. We believe we are a leader in Total Water Management practices, such as water scarcity management and advanced water recycling applications. Our long-term goal is to become one of the largest investor-owned operators of integrated water and wastewater utilities in areas of the arid western U.S. where water scarcity management is necessary for long-term economic sustainability and growth.
Our growth strategy involves the elements listed below:
• acquiring or forming utilities in the path of prospective population growth;
• expanding our service areas geographically and organically growing our customer base within those areas; and
• deploying our Total Water Management approach into these utilities and service areas.
We believe this plan can be executed in our current service areas and in other geographic areas where water scarcity management is necessary to support long-term growth and in which regulatory authorities recognize the need for water conservation through water recycling.
Total Water Management is a demand-side-management framework (in that it is a solution intended to drive down demand for water supplies versus develop new water supplies) that alleviates the pressures of water scarcity in communities where growth is reasonably expected to outpace potable water supply. Built on an all-encompassing view of the water cycle, Total Water Management promotes sustainable community development through reduced potable water consumption while monetizing the value of water through each stage of delivery, collection, and reuse.
Our business model applies Total Water Management in high growth communities. Components of our Total Water Management approach include:
• Regional planning to reduce overall design and implementation costs, leveraging the benefits of replicable designs, gaining the benefits of economies of scale, and enhancing the Company’s position as a primary water and wastewater service provider in the region.
◦ For example, the Company has secured four separate area-wide Clean Water Act Section 208 Regional Water Quality Management Plans in its major planning areas, covering more than 500 square miles of
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land. To obtain these plans, a provider must develop, amongst other things, a regional wastewater solution, including plans for engineering, infrastructure location and size, and goals for the management of treated reclaimed water, which the Company successfully demonstrated in obtaining its plans.
• Stretching a limited resource by maximizing the use of recycled water, using renewable surface water where available and recharging aquifers with any available excess water.
◦ For example, the Company’s water recycling model has been fully implemented in the City of Maricopa. The Company is the water, wastewater, and recycled water provider for the City of Maricopa, which currently has a population of approximately 58,000. A community of this size produces an approximate annual average of 3.2 million gallons of wastewater per day. Because the Company requires developers to take back and utilize recycled water within their communities and invest in “purple pipe” recycled water infrastructure during the initial development of subdivisions, the Company is now able to distribute almost all of the 3.2 million gallons back to the community for beneficial purposes. Approximately 59% of the recycled water goes towards common area non-potable irrigation and for use at a local farm, which allows for the recycled water to naturally recharge into the aquifer. This reduces the total amount of limited ground or surface water that would otherwise be required within the community by over 28%. To date, the Company has reused 9.9 billion gallons of recycled water in the City of Maricopa.
• Integrating and standardizing water, wastewater, and recycled water infrastructure delivery systems using a separate distribution system of purple pipes to conserve water resources, reduce energy, treatment, and consumable costs (e.g., chemicals, filter media, other general materials, and supplies), provide operational efficiencies, and align the otherwise disparate objectives of water sales and conservation.
◦ In addition to the previous example, which related to the requirements for recycled water usage, the separate distribution system of purple pipes, and water conservation achievements, the Company believes that its model results in additional benefits from an economic perspective due to lower use of power and consumables. For every gallon of recycled water that is directly reused while already on land surface, the need to pump additional scarce groundwater and surface water is eliminated. Such additional groundwater and surface water would otherwise need to be treated and distributed in accordance with the Safe Drinking Water Act, which is costly and requires significant energy.
• Gaining market and regulatory acceptance of broad utilization of recycled water through agreements with developers, strategic relationships with governments, academic research, and publication as industry experts, coupled with public education and community outreach campaigns.
◦ For example, the Company has public-private partnerships formally adopted through memorandums of understanding with the City of Maricopa, the City of Casa Grande, and the City of Coolidge. Each memorandum of understanding reflects the Company’s intent to deploy Total Water Management. The Company also has 154 infrastructure coordination and financing agreements with landowners or developer entities that include requirements for usage of recycled water and other attributes that support the Company’s Total Water Management model. As discussed above, the Company’s integrated provider model, which is focused on the maximum use of recycled water, underpins its Clean Water Act Section 208 Regional Water Quality Management Plans and Designations of Assured Water Supply. In addition, the Company has won numerous awards for education, outreach, and conservation in the water industry. Further, the Company’s experts have published academic papers regarding Total Water Management, as well as provided insight to industry publications.
• Incorporating automated processes, such as supervisory control and data acquisition, automated meter reading, and back-office technologies and “green” billing, which reduce operating costs, improve system availability and reliability, and improve customer satisfaction.
◦ Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition. The Company employs supervisory control and data acquisition in all of its utility systems, which provides continuous monitoring, instantaneous alarming, and historical trending on all key operating assets, including instrumentation and dynamic components (e.g., pumps, motor-controlled valves, treatment systems, etc.). This data is reported back to the appropriate operations personnel through a standard industry software. The benefits of this system include the significantly enhanced ability to: achieve compliance and safety mandates; reduce service outages; troubleshoot systems; provide for remote operations; and allow for proactive maintenance and lower costs related to efficient real-time operations.
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◦ Automated Meter Reading. The Company implements automated meter reading with 99% of active customers meters either having automated meter reading or are being upgraded with such functionality in the next 12 months. Currently, all meters in our Maricopa service areas allow for automated meter reading allow for automated meter reading. This technology reads each meter numerous times per day (often hourly) and continuously transmits the meter readings back to a centralized data base through a communications tower and cellular transmission units. The data is then presented to the utility, and is made available to customers, through a simple user interface. Reading meters at this frequency provides many benefits to both the utility and the customer. With this data, utilities can better model demand usage, identify system water loss, identify leaks on the customer side of the meter, monitor for abnormal usage, and present interval, hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly usage back to the customers.
◦ Back-Office Technologies and Paperless Billing. The Company employs a series of technologies that allow for the automation of the billing and remittance process. The Company also provides its customers with over seven ways to pay, with the majority of options being integrated with the Company’s back-office technologies. In combination with automated meter reading, this suite of technology has minimized the use of human labor and reduced the potential for human error for the entire billing and remittance process, while providing better customer service.
We believe our Total Water Management-based business model provides us with a significant competitive advantage in high growth, water scarce regions. Based on our experience and discussions with developers, we believe developers prefer our approach because it provides a bundled solution to infrastructure provision and improves housing density in areas of scarce water resources. Developers are also focusing on increased consumer and regulatory demands for environmentally friendly or “green” housing alternatives. Communities prefer the approach because it provides a partnering platform which promotes economic development, reduces their traditional dependence on bond financing and ensures long term water sustainability.
Our competitive advantage facilitates the execution of our growth strategy. We believe our proven conservation methods lead to successful permitting for more connections in expanded and new service areas.
Our Regulated Utilities
We own and operate regulated water, wastewater, and recycled water utilities in communities principally located in metropolitan Phoenix. Our utilities are regulated by the ACC, as described further under “—Regulation—Arizona Regulatory Agencies” below. As of December 31, 2021, our utilities collectively had 53,882 active service connections offering predictable rate-regulated cash flows. Revenues from our regulated utilities accounted for approximately 98.3% of total revenues in 2021. Our utilities currently possess the high-level regional permits that allow us to implement our business model; thus, we believe we are well-positioned for organic growth in our current service areas that are generally located in Arizona’s population growth corridors: Maricopa/Casa Grande, West Valley, and Sun Corridor Region.
A key component of our water utility business is the use of recycled water. Recycled water is highly treated and purified wastewater that is distributed through a separate distribution system of purple pipes for a variety of beneficial, non-potable uses. Recycled water can be delivered for all common area irrigation needs, as well as delivered direct to homes where it can be used for outdoor residential irrigation. Our Total Water Management model, an integrated approach to the use of potable and non-potable water to manage the entire water cycle, both conserves water and maximizes its total economic value. The application of the Total Water Management model has proven to be effective as a means of water scarcity management that promotes sustainable communities and helps achieve greater dwelling unit density in areas where the availability of sustainable water can be a key constraint on development. Our implementation of the Total Water Management philosophy in Arizona has led to the development of relationships with key regulatory bodies.
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A summary description of our utilities at December 31, 2021 is set forth in the following table and described in more detail below:
Utility Date of Acquisition (A) or Formation (F) Service Provided Square Miles of Service Area (1)(2) Active Service Connections (2) Average Monthly Rate Per Service Connection
MARICOPA / CASA GRANDE REGION
Global Water - Santa Cruz Water Company, Inc. 2004 (A) Water 81 24,613 $ 56
Global Water - Palo Verde Utilities Company, Inc. 2004 (A) Wastewater and Recycled Water 105 24,346 73
Global Water - Turner Ranches Irrigation, Inc. 2018 (A) Water 7 962 70
WEST VALLEY REGION
Global Water - Greater Tonopah Water Company, Inc. 2006 (A) Water 103 395 93
Global Water - Northern Scottsdale Water Company, Inc. 2006 (A) Water 1 93 221
Global Water - Eagletail Water Company, Inc. 2017 (A) Water 8 71 86
Global Water - Balterra Utilities Company, Inc. 2008 (A) Wastewater and Recycled Water 2 — —
Global Water - Hassayampa Utilities Company, Inc. 2005 (F) Wastewater and Recycled Water 42 — —
SUN CORRIDOR REGION
Global Water - Picacho Cove Water Company, Inc. 2006 (F) Water 6 2 826
Global Water - Picacho Cove Utilities Company, Inc. 2006 (F) Wastewater and Recycled Water 6 — —
Global Water - Red Rock Utilities Company, Inc. 2018 (A) Water, Wastewater and Recycled Water 11 1,905 70
PIMA COUNTY / TUCSON REGION
Global Water - Francesca Water Company, Inc. 2020 (A) Water 0.4 124 50
Global Water - Mirabell Water Company, Inc. 2020 (A) Water 0.4 64 65
Global Water - Lyn Lee Water Company, Inc. 2020 (A) Water 1 39 41
Global Water - Tortolita Water Company, Inc. 2020 (A) Water 0.1 22 64
Global Water - Las Quintas Serenas Water Company, Inc. 0 2021 (A) Water 2.5 1,246 52
Total 376 53,882
(1) Certified areas may overlap in whole or in part for separate utilities.
(2) In January 2022 the Company completed the acquisitions of Twin Hawks Utility, Inc. ("Twin Hawks"), an operator of a water utility with service area in Pinal county, Arizona and Rincon Water Company, Inc. ("Rincon"), an operator of a water utility with service area in Pima County, Arizona. These acquisitions added an aggregate of 91 connections and approximately 9.1 square miles of service area.
Maricopa/Casa Grande Region
The City of Maricopa is located approximately 12 miles south of Phoenix. The relative proximity to a significant urban center, coupled with relatively abundant and inexpensive land, were the key drivers of the real estate boom experienced by this community. In 2005, the City of Maricopa was one of the fastest growing cities in the nation. While growth has slowed nationally since 2007, the City of Maricopa continues to grow, as demonstrated by our addition of 18,342 active service connections (representing approximately 7,330 homes) from December 2009 to December 2021. Development in the area is still considered to be affordable with the median home value being $374,000 compared to $423,000 in the Phoenix Metro area.
We operate in this region through Santa Cruz, Palo Verde, and Global Water - Turner Ranches Irrigation, Inc. ("Turner").
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We acquired Santa Cruz and Palo Verde in 2004. Santa Cruz serves 24,613 active service connections as of December 31, 2021 and revenues from Santa Cruz represented approximately 39.5% and 39.6% of our total revenue for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Palo Verde serves 24,346 active service connections as of December 31, 2021 and revenues from Palo Verde represented approximately 50.7% and 50.8% of our total revenue for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
The Santa Cruz and Palo Verde service areas include approximately 186 square miles, which we believe provide further opportunities for growth. Most of the Santa Cruz and Palo Verde infrastructure is less than eighteen years old. Santa Cruz and Palo Verde provide water and wastewater services, respectively, under an innovative public-private partnership memorandum of understanding with the City of Maricopa in Pinal County for approximately 278 square miles of its planning area. We signed a similar memorandum of understanding with the City of Casa Grande to partner in providing water, wastewater, and recycled water services to an approximate 100 square miles of its western region for anticipated growth.
We acquired Turner in May 2018. Turner is a non-potable irrigation water utility located in Maricopa County, Arizona, with approximately seven square miles of service area. Turner serves 962 residential irrigation customers as of December 31, 2021.
Rate proceedings were completed in 2010 for both Santa Cruz and Palo Verde. In July 2012, these two utilities filed applications with the ACC for increased rates using 2011 as the test year on which the ACC used to evaluate the utilities’ rates. The rate proceedings were completed in February 2014. On August 28, 2020, Santa Cruz, Palo Verde and Turner each filed a rate case application with the ACC. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Rate Case Activity”, included in Part II, Item 7 of this Form 10-K, for additional information.
West Valley Region
We operate in this region through Global Water - Greater Tonopah Water Company, Inc. (“Greater Tonopah”), Global Water - Northern Scottsdale Water Company, Inc. (“Northern Scottsdale”), Global Water - Balterra Utilities Company, Inc. (“Balterra”), Global Water - Hassayampa Utilities Company, Inc. (“Hassayampa”), and Global Water - Eagletail Water Company, Inc. ("Eagletail"), and formerly through Valencia Water Company, Inc. (“Valencia”), Water Utility of Greater Buckeye (“Greater Buckeye”) and Willow Water Valley Co., Inc. (“Willow Valley”).
We acquired Greater Tonopah in 2006. Greater Tonopah serves 395 active service connections as of December 31, 2021. Greater Tonopah has a Certificate of Convenience and Necessity ("CC&N") for 103 square miles of service area and provides water services to Maricopa County west of the Hassayampa River. The acquisition of Greater Tonopah allowed us to enter into agreements with developers to serve a total of approximately 100,000 home sites plus commercial, schools, parks, and industrial developments at full build-out.
In November 2017, the Bill and Melinda Gates Investment Group, through an investment vehicle, acquired 20,000 acres in the Belmont development, located in the West Valley Region. Belmont is a mixed use, master planned community and is included within the service area of Greater Tonopah and Hassayampa.
We acquired Northern Scottsdale in 2006. Northern Scottsdale serves 93 active service connections as of December 31, 2021. Northern Scottsdale has a CC&N for one square mile and provides water services to two small subdivisions in Northern Scottsdale.
We acquired Balterra in 2006. Balterra is a wastewater utility and has a CC&N for two square miles in an area in western Maricopa County known as Tonopah. Balterra currently has no active service connections; however, its service area lies directly in the expected path of future growth in the far west valley of metropolitan Phoenix, which we believe should provide opportunities for growth once development commences in this area.
We formed Hassayampa in 2005. Hassayampa is a wastewater utility and has a CC&N for 42 square miles in an area that is contiguous to Balterra. Hassayampa currently has no active service connections; however, like Balterra, its service area lies directly in the path of future growth in the far west valley of metropolitan Phoenix, which we believe should provide opportunities for growth once development commences in this area.
In October 2012, we and our subsidiary, 303 Utilities Company, and the City of Glendale entered into an agreement for future wastewater and recycled water services, advancing our public-private-partnership originally approved by the city council in March 2010. The agreement named 303 Utilities Company as the future wastewater and recycled water provider for a 7,000-acre territory within a portion of Glendale’s western planning area known as the Loop 303 Corridor. The 303 Utilities Company also signed certain wastewater facilities main extension agreements with numerous developers/landowners in the service area to fund the initial design and construction of a wastewater and recycled water utility. In addition, we signed separate offsite water
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management agreements with these same developers/landowners to provide the coordination, permitting, and engineering work for the related water utility service element of the project. In September 2013, we entered into an agreement to sell the Loop 303 Contracts to a third-party. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Corporate Transactions—Sale of Loop 303 Contracts”, included in Part II, Item 7 of this Form 10-K, for additional information.
We formerly operated additional utilities in the West Valley Region through Valencia, Greater Buckeye, and Willow Valley. Valencia was consolidated with Greater Buckeye in 2008, and on July 14, 2015, we closed the stipulated condemnation to transfer the operations and assets of Valencia to the City of Buckeye. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Corporate Transactions—Stipulated Condemnation of the Operations and Assets of Valencia”, included in Part II, Item 7 of this Form 10-K, for additional information.
In addition, on May 9, 2016, we closed the sale of Willow Valley to EPCOR Water Arizona Inc. (“EPCOR”).
On May 15, 2017, we acquired Eagletail via merger. Eagletail serves 71 active connections as of December 31, 2021. Eagletail has a CC&N for eight square miles located west of metropolitan Phoenix.
Rate proceedings were completed in 2010 for Greater Tonopah. Northern Scottsdale completed a rate proceeding in 2008. In July 2012, these five utilities in the West Valley Region filed applications with the ACC for increased rates using 2011 as the test year on which the ACC evaluates the utilities’ rates. The rate proceedings were completed in February 2014. On August 28, 2020, Greater Tonopah, Northern Scottsdale, Balterra, Hassayampa, and Eagletail each filed a rate case application with the ACC. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Rate Case Activity”, included in Part II, Item 7 of this Form 10-K, for additional information.
Sun Corridor Region
The Sun Corridor Region is approximately equidistant between Phoenix and Tucson, along the I-10 Corridor.
We operate in this region through Global Water-Picacho Cove Water Company, and Global Water-Picacho Cove Utilities Company (collectively, “Picacho Cove”), and Global Water - Red Rock Utilities Company, Inc. (“Red Rock”).
We formed Picacho Cove in 2006 to provide water and wastewater services in the City of Eloy and currently have CC&Ns for approximately six congruent square miles. These utilities currently have two active service connections.
We acquired Red Rock in October 2018. Red Rock consists of a water and a wastewater utility with service areas in the Pima and Pinal counties of Arizona, with approximately nine square miles of service area. Red Rock serves 963 active water connections and 942 active sewer connections as of December 31, 2021.
On August 28, 2020, Picacho Cove and Red Rock each filed a rate case application with the ACC. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Rate Case Activity”, included in Part II, Item 7 of this Form 10-K, for additional information.
Pima County / Tucson Region
We operate in this region through Global Water - Mirabell Water Company, Inc. (“Mirabell”), Global Water - Francesca Water Company, Inc. (“Francesca”), Global Water - Tortolita Water Company, Inc. (“Tortolita”), Global Water - Lyn Lee Water Company, Inc. (“Lyn Lee”), and Global Water - Las Quintas Serenas Water Company, Inc. (“Las Quintas Serenas”).
We acquired Mirabell in October 2020. Mirabell serves 64 active water connections as of December 31, 2021. Mirabell has a CC&N for 0.4 square miles located in the southwest area of Tucson, Arizona.
We acquired Francesca, Tortolita and Lyn Lee in November 2020. Francesca is located in the southwest area of Tucson, Arizona whereas Tortolita and Lyn Lee are located in Marana, Arizona. As of December 31, 2021, Francesca, Tortolita, and Lyn Lee serve 124, 22, and 39 active water connections, respectively.
We acquired Las Quintas Serenas in November 2021. Las Quintas Serenas serves over 1,100 connections with approximately 2.5 square miles of service area located in the northern area of Green Valley, Arizona.
Operations
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We treat water to potable standards and also treat, clean, and recycle wastewater for a variety of non-potable uses. A description of these operations follows.
Sources of Water Supply
Our water supplies are primarily derived from groundwater; however, we currently augment these supplies with recycled water and intend to augment them with surface water and increased use of recycled water in the future.
• Potable Water. Our utilities presently employ groundwater systems for potable water production. Water is brought to the surface from underground aquifers (water levels vary from approximately 60 to 500 feet below land surface depending on the area), disinfected and stored in tanks for distribution to customers. In some instances, individual raw water supplies do not meet the legislative requirements for certain constituents. In those cases, we use well-head, centralized, point-of-use, or blending treatment systems to ensure water quality meets potable standards.
• Recycled Water. Recycled water is created by taking wastewater and applying advanced tertiary treatment (i.e., screening, biological reduction, and filtration and disinfection processes) to create a high quality, non-potable water source. Each step is monitored and controlled in order that the stringent requirements for recycled water are continuously met. Recycled water generated by us meets Arizona’s Aquifer Water Quality Standards before it leaves the treatment facility and is recognized as Class A+, the highest quality of recycled water regulated by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality ("ADEQ"). Recycled water can be used for irrigation, facilities cooling, and industrial applications and in a residential setting for toilet flushing and lawn watering.
See “Risk Factors—Business and Operational Factors—There is no guaranteed source of water,” included in Part I, Item 1A of this Form 10-K, for additional information.
Technology
We use sophisticated technology as a principal means of improving our margins. We focus on technological innovations that allow us to deliver high-quality water and customer service with minimal potential for human error, delays, and inefficiencies. The comprehensive technology platform that we use includes supervisory control and data acquisition, automated meter reading, and geographical information system technologies, which we use to map and monitor our physical assets and water resources on an automated, real-time basis with fewer people than the standard water utility model requires. Our systems allow us to detect and resolve potential problems promptly, accurately, and efficiently before they become more serious, which both improves customer service and optimizes and extends the efficient performance and life of our assets. The comprehensive technology platform that we use includes automated meter reading technology, which allows us to read water meters remotely rather than physically, improves water resources accounting, allows for identification of high water usage and water theft from disconnected meters. We also use automated voice, internet billing, payment processing, and customer service applications that contribute to additional reduced headcount and a reduction in associated personnel costs.
Decentralized Treatment Facilities
We design and build standard, decentralized facilities that are scaled to the service areas they serve in order to achieve optimum efficiency in providing both water and wastewater services. The replication of our standard facility also improves design, construction, and operating efficiency because we are able to employ similar, proven processes and equipment and technologies at each of our facilities.
Although there has not traditionally been a significant economic incentive or other reward for automation and resource efficiency in our industry, we believe our use of automation in lieu of labor, together with our emphasis on streamlined operations and conservation, will position us well for continued profitable growth and allow us to take advantage of future incentives or rewards that may be available to water utilities that are able to successfully enhance the use of renewable resources.
Regulation
Our water and wastewater utility operations are subject to extensive regulation by U.S. federal, state, and local regulatory agencies that enforce environmental, health, and safety requirements, which affect all of our regulated subsidiaries. These requirements include the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Water Act, and the regulations issued under these laws by the EPA. We are also subject to state environmental laws and regulations, such as Arizona’s Aquifer Protection Program and other environmental laws and regulations enforced by the ADEQ, and extensive regulation by the ACC, which regulates public utilities. The ACC also has broad administrative power and authority to set rates and charges, determine service areas and
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conditions of service, and authorize the issuance of securities as well as authority to establish uniform systems of accounts and approve the terms of contracts with both affiliates and customers.
We are also subject to various federal, state, and local laws and regulations governing the storage of hazardous materials, the management and disposal of hazardous and solid wastes, discharges to air and water, the cleanup of contaminated sites, dam safety, fire protection services in the areas we serve, and other matters relating to the protection of the environment, health, and safety.
We maintain a comprehensive environmental program which addresses, among other things, responsible business practices and compliance with environmental laws and regulations, including the use and conservation of natural resources. Water samples across our water system are analyzed on a regular basis in material compliance with regulatory requirements. We conducted more than 13,276 water quality tests in 2021 at subcontracted laboratory facilities in addition to providing continuous online instrumentation for monitoring parameters such as turbidity and disinfectant residuals and allowing for adjustments to chemical treatment based on changes in incoming water quality. For 2021, we achieved a compliance rate of 99.96% for meeting state and federal drinking water standards and 99.88% for compliance with wastewater requirements, for an overall compliance rating of 99.9%. Compliance with governmental regulations is of utmost importance to us, and considerable time and resources are spent ensuring compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations.
In addition to regulation by governmental entities, our operations may also be affected by civic or consumer advocacy groups. These organizations provide a voice for customers at local and national levels to communicate their service priorities and concerns. Although these organizations may lack regulatory or enforcement authority, they may be influential in achieving service quality and rate improvements for customers.
Safe Drinking Water Act
The federal Safe Drinking Water Act and regulations promulgated thereunder establish minimum national quality standards for drinking water. The EPA has issued rules governing the levels of numerous naturally occurring and man-made chemical and microbial contaminants and radionuclides allowable in drinking water and continues to propose new rules. These rules also prescribe testing requirements for detecting contaminants, the treatment systems that may be used for removing contaminants, and other requirements. Federal and state water quality requirements have become increasingly more stringent, including increased water testing requirements, to reflect public health concerns. In Arizona, the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act are incorporated by reference into the Arizona Administrative Code.
In order to remove or inactivate microbial organisms, the EPA has promulgated various rules to improve the disinfection and filtration of drinking water and to reduce consumers’ exposure to disinfectants and by-products of the disinfection process.
Contaminants of emerging concern ("CECs") are chemicals and other substances that have no regulatory standard, but have been discovered in water or in the environment where they had not previously been detected, or were only present at insignificant levels. We believe CECs may form the basis for additional regulatory initiatives and requirements in the future. We rely on governmental agencies to establish regulatory standards regarding CECs and we meet or exceed these standards, when established.
Although it is difficult to project the ultimate costs of complying with the above or other pending or future requirements, we do not expect current requirements under the Safe Drinking Water Act to have a material impact on our operations or financial condition, although it is possible new methods of treating drinking water may be required if additional regulations become effective in the future. In addition, capital expenditures and operating costs to comply with environmental mandates traditionally have been recognized by state public utility commissions as appropriate for inclusion in establishing rates, although rate recovery may be delayed by “regulatory lag”, that is, the delay between the utility’s test year and the issuance of a rate order approving new rates.
Clean Water Act
The federal Clean Water Act regulates discharges of liquid effluents from drinking water and wastewater treatment facilities into waters of the U.S., including lakes, rivers, streams and subsurface, or sanitary sewers. In Arizona, with the exception of Clean Water Act Section 208 Regional Water Quality Management Plans, capacity management and operations and maintenance requirements, and source control requirements, wastewater operations are primarily regulated under the Aquifer Protection Permit program and the Arizona Pollutant Discharge Elimination System program (see below).
The EPA certifies Clean Water Act Section 208 Regional Water Quality Management Plans and Amendments which govern the location of water reclamation facilities and wastewater treatment plants. The EPA’s 40 C.F.R. Pt. 503 bio-solids requirements
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are reported to the EPA through the ADEQ. While we are not presently regulated to meet source control requirements, we maintain source control through various Codes of Practice that have been accepted by the ACC as enforceable limits on consumer discharges to sanitary sewer systems. We believe we maintain the necessary permits and approvals for the discharges from our water and wastewater facilities.
Arizona Regulatory Agencies
In Arizona, the ACC is the regulatory authority with jurisdiction over water and wastewater utilities. The ACC has exclusive authority to approve rates, mandate accounting treatments, authorize long-term financing programs, evaluate significant capital expenditures and plant additions, examine and regulate transactions between a regulated subsidiary and its affiliated entities, and approve or disapprove reorganizations, mergers, and acquisitions prior to their completion. Additionally, the ACC has statutory authority to oversee service quality and consumer complaints, and approve or disapprove expansion of service areas. The ACC is comprised of five elected members, each serving a four year term. Companies that wish to provide water or wastewater service apply for a CC&N, which, if granted, allows them to serve customers within a geographic area specified by a legal description of the property. In considering an application for a CC&N, the ACC will determine if the applicant is fit and proper to provide service within a specified area, whether the applicant has sufficient technical, managerial, and financial capabilities to provide the service, and if that service is necessary and in the public interest. Once a CC&N is granted, the utility falls under the ACC’s jurisdiction and must abide by the rules and laws under which a public service corporation operates. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Rate Case Activity,” included in Part II, Item 7 of this Form 10-K, for additional information regarding rate case activity involving the ACC.
Arizona water and wastewater utilities must also comply with state environmental regulation regarding drinking water and wastewater, including environmental regulations set by Councils of Government (such as the Central Arizona Governments and the Maricopa Association of Governments), the ADEQ, and the Arizona Department of Water Resources. The Central Arizona Governments is the designated management authority for Section 208 of the Clean Water Act for Pinal and Gila Counties and administers the requirements of the Regional Water Quality Management Plans and Amendments at the local level. The Maricopa Association of Governments is the designated management authority for Section 208 of the Clean Water Act for Maricopa County and administers the requirements of the Regional Water Quality Management Plans and Amendments at the local level. The Maricopa County Environmental Services Department has delegated authority for overseeing ADEQ requirements in Maricopa County. The Pima County Department of Environmental Quality has delegated authority for overseeing ADEQ requirements in Pima County. The ADEQ regulates water quality and permits water reclamation facilities, discharges of recycled water, re-use of recycled water, and recharge of recycled water. The ADEQ also regulates the clean closure requirements of facilities. In Arizona, the ADEQ has received delegated authority from the EPA for the administration of the Clean Water Act’s National Pollution Discharge Elimination System program. Permits issued by the ADEQ for discharges to waters of the U.S. in Arizona are termed “Arizona Pollutant Discharge Elimination System,” or “AZPDES,” permits. The ADEQ also administers the drinking water quality requirements set by the federal Safe Drinking Water Act within Arizona. Finally, the Arizona Department of Water Resources regulates surface water extraction, groundwater withdrawal, designations and certificates of assured water supply, extinguishment of irrigation grandfathered water rights, groundwater savings facilities, recharge facilities, recharge permits, recovery well permits, storage accounts, and well construction, abandonment, or replacement. We must file periodic reports with the ACC, ADEQ, and Arizona Department of Water Resources.
Within each regulatory organization, we have invested in developing cooperative relationships at all levels, from staff to executives to elected and appointed officials, and have adopted a proactive attitude toward regulatory compliance.
Assured and Adequate Water Supply Regulations
We intend to seek access to renewable water supplies as we grow our water resource portfolio. However, we currently rely almost exclusively (and are likely to continue to rely) on the pumping of groundwater and the generation and delivery of recycled water for non-potable uses to meet future demands in our service areas. Aside from some rights to water through the Central Arizona Project, groundwater (and recycled water derived from groundwater) is the only water supply available to us.
Although we intend to rely on recycled water to help meet water demands in areas, the infrastructure, permits, and customer base necessary to generate and deliver recycled water are not necessarily in place in most of our service areas. In addition, although recycling can extend a limited supply, it does not actually generate a new supply of water. As such, although our proposed generation and delivery of recycled water is likely to help reduce the amount of groundwater that will be required to serve future customers, our ability to serve new customers will remain dependent on our ability to access groundwater. Groundwater is a limited resource in Arizona, and access to new uses of groundwater is closely regulated in the areas served by us. See “Risk Factors—Business and Operational Factors—Inadequate water and wastewater supplies could have a material adverse effect upon our ability to achieve the customer growth necessary to increase our revenues,” included in Part I, Item 1A of this Form 10-K, for additional information.
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Nearly all of our service areas are located in “Active Management Areas,” areas within which the use of groundwater is regulated by the Arizona Department of Water Resources in order to manage ongoing problems with groundwater overdraft. The Phoenix, Prescott, and Tucson Active Management Areas are legally mandated to achieve “safe yield” by 2025 or sooner. However, we do not expect any of these Active Management Areas to achieve their safe yield goals. Safe yield requires groundwater pumping to not draw down the groundwater aquifers, or “over-draft,” as all pumping is offset or replaced within the Active Management Area from a renewable supply. The Pinal Active Management Area, which encompasses our major service areas near Maricopa, is managed to allow development of non-irrigation uses and to preserve existing agricultural economies in the Active Management Area for as long as feasible, consistent with the necessity to preserve future water supplies for non-irrigation uses.
Under Arizona’s assured water supply laws and regulations, a new subdivision inside an Active Management Area must demonstrate that it has an “assured water supply” to the satisfaction of the Arizona Department of Water Resources before the developer is permitted to sell lots. Demonstration of an assured water supply requires, among other things, that an applicant demonstrate that water supplies will be physically, continuously, and legally available to satisfy the water needs of the proposed use for at least 100 years. A developer may make an independent showing of an assured water supply (resulting in a Certificate of Assured Water Supply for a subdivision) or may obtain a written commitment for service from a designated water provider, such as a privately owned water company or a municipal water supplier. Under the latter approach, the water provider must demonstrate satisfaction of assured water supply requirements for the developments within its service areas (resulting in a Designation of Assured Water Supply for the provider). At present, we have obtained a Designation of Assured Water Supply in the Maricopa/Casa Grande service territory (Santa Cruz) for approximately 22,900 acre-feet of water use. A Designation of Assured Water Supply is subject to periodic review and renewal by the Arizona Department of Water Resources and can be increased as demand grows within the service territory, subject to the physical availability of existing water supplies and any additional supplies acquired for use within the Designation of Assured Water Supply. Over time, we anticipate Santa Cruz will apply to increase the Designation of Assured Water Supply as sufficient increased demand is established in the area. Under our highly efficient Total Water Management model, which is intended to achieve much lower per-unit potable water use rates than would be expected for average developments, 22,900 acre-feet could be sufficient water supply for approximately 91,600 homes per year.
In our West Valley service territory (Greater Tonopah), we are seeking a Designation of Assured Water Supply in the future. Assuming implementation of our high-efficiency Total Water Management model throughout the service area, we believe this could be a sufficient water supply for tens of thousands of homes. There is no assurance that the Arizona Department of Water Resources would provide a new Designation of Assured Water Supply or add any additional acre-feet to our Designations of Assured Water Supply in the future.
In our other service areas, we rely upon a Certificate of Assured Water Supply obtained by developers to demonstrate an assured water supply, or will apply for a Designation of Assured Water Supply in the future when required.
Outside of Arizona’s Active Management Areas, the “adequate water supply” program requires a determination of whether there is an adequate water supply—similar to an assured water supply—but it does not necessarily foreclose development when the showing cannot be made. Unless the county government has voted to make the requirement mandatory, a development (outside of Active Management Areas) that cannot demonstrate access to an adequate water supply is generally required only to disclose this fact, although as a practical matter few developments have proceeded on this basis. In addition, whether a water provider to such a development has access to an adequate water supply is nevertheless relevant to its business.
Other Environmental, Health, and Safety (including Water Quality) Matters
Our operations also involve the use, storage, and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes. For example, our water and wastewater treatment facilities store and use chlorine and other chemicals and generate wastes that require proper handling and disposal under applicable environmental regulations. We could also incur remedial costs in connection with any environmental contamination relating to our operations or facilities, releases or our off-site disposal of wastes. Although we are not aware of any material cleanup or decontamination obligations, the discovery of contamination or the imposition of such obligations arising under relevant federal, state, and local laws and regulations in the future could result in additional costs. Our facilities and operations also are subject to requirements under the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Act and similar laws in Arizona.
Our compliance with all of the environmental, health, and safety (including water quality) requirements described above may be subject to inspections and enforcement measures by federal, state, and local agencies.
Security
Due to security, vandalism, terrorism, and other risks, we take precautions to protect our employees and the water delivered to our customers. In 2002, federal legislation was enacted that resulted in new regulations concerning security of water facilities, including submitting vulnerability assessment studies to the federal government. We have complied with EPA regulations
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concerning vulnerability assessments and have made filings to the EPA as required. Vulnerability assessments are conducted regularly to evaluate the effectiveness of existing security controls and serve as the basis for further capital investment in security for the facility. Information security controls are deployed or integrated to prevent unauthorized access to company information systems, assure the continuity of business processes dependent upon automation, ensure the integrity of our data and support regulatory and legislative compliance requirements. In addition, communication plans have been developed as a component of our procedures. While we do not make public comments on the details of our security programs, we have been in contact with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to coordinate and improve the security of our water delivery systems and to safeguard our water supply.
Competition
As an owner and operator of regulated utilities, we do not face competition within our existing service areas because Arizona law provides the holder of a CC&N for water and wastewater service with an exclusive right to provide that service within the certificated area, as against other public service corporations. In addition, the high cost of constructing water and wastewater systems in an existing market creates a barrier to entry. We do, however, face competition from other water and wastewater utilities for new service areas and with respect to the acquisition of smaller utilities. We believe our principal competitors for new service areas and acquisitions in Arizona are EPCOR Water Arizona Inc., Arizona Water Company, Central States Water Resources, Northwest Natural Water Company, LLC, Ullico Inc. and Liberty Utilities. We believe competition for new service areas and acquisitions is based on relationships with municipalities and developers, experience in making acquisitions, the ability to finance and obtain regulatory approval, quality and breadth of products and services, the ability to integrate both water and wastewater services, and implement conservation practices throughout the service areas, price, speed, and ease of implementation.
If we seek to extend our services outside Arizona, we will face competition from other regional or national water utilities for these opportunities.
Although we believe we compete effectively in our regulated businesses, our competitors may have more resources and experience than we have and may therefore have a competitive advantage.
Segment Reporting
We currently operate in one geographic region within the State of Arizona, wherein each operating utility operates within the same regulatory environment, and is operated as one reportable segment. We do not have any customers that contribute more than 10% to our revenues or revenue streams. For additional information, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Segment Reporting” in Part II, Item 7 of this Form 10-K.
Seasonality
Customer demand for our water during the warmer months is generally greater than other times of the year due primarily to additional consumption of water in connection with irrigation systems, swimming pools, cooling systems, and other outside water use. Throughout the year, and particularly during typically warmer months, demand may vary with temperature, as well as the timing and overall levels of rainfall. In the event that temperatures during the typically warmer months are cooler than normal, or if there is more rainfall than normal, the customer demand for our water may decrease and therefore, adversely affect our revenues. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Factors Affecting our Results of Operations—Weather and Seasonality,” included in Part II, Item 7 of this Form 10-K, for additional information .
Human Capital Resources
As of December 31, 2021, we employed 86 full-time individuals and 2 part-time employees. This represents an increase of seven employees, or 8.6% from December 31, 2020 due primarily to the hiring of additional employees throughout the organization as the company continues to grow. Currently, none of our employees participate in collective bargaining agreements, and we consider our employee relations to be good.
We offer comprehensive compensation and benefits package to attract and retain top talent. In addition to competitive base wages, additional benefits include annual bonus opportunities, employee stock options, Company matched 401(k) plan, healthcare and insurance benefits, flexible spending accounts and paid time off.
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Available Information
We maintain an Internet website at www.gwresources.com . Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act") are accessible through our website, free of charge, as soon as reasonably practicable after these reports are filed electronically with, or furnished to, the SEC. To access these reports, go to our website at www.gwresources.com . The foregoing information regarding our website is provided for convenience and the content of our website is not deemed to be incorporated by reference in this report filed with the SEC. The SEC maintains an Internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC at www.sec.gov .
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