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Note 1 - Description of Business | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2011
Business Description and Basis of Presentation [Text Block] | NOTE 1 – DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS Our primary asset consists of 45,000 acres of land in three areas of eastern San Bernardino County, California. Virtually all of this land is underlain by high-quality, naturally recharging groundwater resources, and is situated in proximity to the Colorado River and the Colorado River Aqueduct, the major source of imported water for Southern California. Our main objective is to realize the highest and best use of these land and water resources in an environmentally responsible way. For more than 20 years, we have maintained an agricultural development at our property in the Cadiz Valley, relying upon groundwater from the underlying aquifer system for irrigation. In 1993, we secured permits for agricultural production on up to 9,600 acres of the 34,000-acre Cadiz Valley property and the withdrawal of more than one million acre-feet of groundwater from the underlying aquifer system. Since that time, we have maintained various levels of agricultural development at the property and this development has provided our principal source of revenue. Although sustainable agricultural development is an important and enduring component of our business, we believe that the long-term value of our assets can best be derived through the development of a combination of water supply and storage projects at our properties. The primary factors that drive the value of water supply and storage projects are continued population growth and sustained pressure on water supplies throughout California, including environmental restrictions and regulatory shortages on each of the State’s three primary water sources: the State Water Project, the Colorado River and the Los Angeles Aqueduct. Southern California’s water providers rely on these imported sources for a majority of their water supplies. Availability of supplies in California also differs greatly from year to year due to natural hydrological variability. For example, an historic drought from 2007 – 2009 was followed by above-average rainfall in 2010 and an average year in 2011. Thus far, 2012 is on track to be one of the driest years on record. With the region’s population expected to continue to expand, Southern California water providers are presently seeking new, reliable supply solutions to account for anticipated fluctuations in traditional supplies and to plan for long-term water needs. At present, our development efforts are primarily focused on the Cadiz Valley Water Conservation, Recovery and Storage Project (“Water Project” or “Project”), which proposes to capture and conserve millions of acre-feet of native groundwater currently being lost to evaporation from the aquifer system beneath our Cadiz Valley property and deliver it to water providers throughout Southern California. We believe that the ultimate implementation of this Water Project will create the primary source of our future cash flow and, accordingly, our working capital requirements relate largely to the development activities associated with this Water Project. Additionally, we are currently exploring opportunities to enter the water transportation market, and have entered into two separate option agreements that, if exercised, would allow us to purchase a total of approximately 300 miles of existing, idle underground natural gas pipelines in Southern California for conversion to water transmission. Initial feasibility studies indicate that the lines have excellent potential to be utilized by the Water Project and/or to move water into other areas of the region that currently lack access to water transportation infrastructure. Further, we continue to explore additional uses of our land and water resource assets, including siting solar energy and the development of a mitigation bank. We plan to continue our current development efforts and also pursue strategic investments in complementary business or infrastructure to meet our objectives. We cannot predict with certainty when or if these objectives will be realized. The Water Project is designed to supply, capture and conserve billions of gallons of renewable native groundwater currently being lost annually to evaporation from the aquifer system underlying our Cadiz/Fenner property, and provide a reliable water supply to water users in Southern California. By implementing established groundwater management practices, the Water Project will create a new, sustainable water supply for Project participants without adversely impacting the aquifer system or the desert environment. The total quantity of groundwater to be recovered and conveyed to Project participants will not exceed a long-term annual average of 50,000 acre-feet per year. The Project also offers participants the ability to carry-over their annual supply, and store it in the groundwater basin from year to year, as well as approximately one million acre-feet of storage capacity that can be used to store imported water. In general, several elements are needed to implement such a project: (1) a water conveyance right-of-way or pipeline from the Water Project area to a delivery system; (2) storage and supply agreements with one or more public water agencies or private water utilities; (3) environmental permits; and (4) construction and working capital financing. As described below, the first three elements have been progressed on a concurrent basis. The fourth is dependent on actions arising from the completion of the first three.
(1) | A Water Conveyance Right-of-Way or Pipeline from the Water Project Area to a Delivery System
In September 2008, we secured a right-of-way for the Water Project’s water conveyance pipeline by entering into a lease agreement with the Arizona & California Railroad Company (“ARZC”). The agreement allows for the use of a portion of the railroad’s right-of-way to construct and operate a water conveyance pipeline for a period up to 99 years. The pipeline would be used to convey water between our Cadiz Valley property and the Colorado River Aqueduct (“CRA”). As part of the lease agreement, the ARZC would also receive water from the Project for fire suppression and other railroad purposes. The Company is also exploring the potential to utilize one of the unused natural gas pipelines that exist in the Project area, and as to which we hold an option right, as a means to access additional distribution systems. Initial feasibility studies indicate that this line could be used as a component of the Water Project to distribute water to Project participants in Phase I or import water from the California Aqueduct for storage at the Project area in Phase II. The potential use of this line by the Project is being analyzed as part of the Project’s California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) process.
(2) | Storage and Supply Agreements with One or More Public Water Agencies or Private Water Utilities
In June 2010, we entered into option and environmental cost sharing agreements with three water providers: Santa Margarita Water District (“SMWD”), Golden State Water Company (a wholly-owned subsidiary of American States Water [NYSE: AWR]), and Three Valleys Municipal Water District. The three water providers serve more than one million customers in cities throughout California’s San Bernardino, Riverside, Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura Counties. In September 2010, we entered into an option and environmental cost sharing agreement with Suburban Water Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SouthWest Water Company. Suburban Water Systems provides water to a population of approximately 300,000 people in a 42-square-mile service area across California's Los Angeles and Orange counties. In 2011, we entered into similar agreements with Jurupa Community Services District (“JCSD”) and California Water Service Company (“Cal Water”). JCSD provides water and sewer services in a 48-square mile service area located in an unincorporated portion of western Riverside County, California. Cal Water, the third largest investor-owned American water utility, distributes and sells water to 1.7 million Californians through 435,000 connections in communities from Chico in Northern California to the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Southern California. Under the terms of the agreements with the six water providers, upon completion of the Water Project’s CEQA review, each agency will have the right to acquire an annual supply of 5,000 acre-feet of water at a pre-determined formula competitive with their incremental cost of new water. SMWD also was given the option to purchase an additional 10,000 acre-feet of water per year. In addition, the agencies have options to acquire storage rights in the Water Project to allow them to manage their supplies to complement their other water resources. Approximately 80% of the water to be conserved annually by the Project is now under option. We continue to work with additional water providers interested in acquiring rights to the remaining available Project supplies, and are in discussions with third parties regarding the imported storage aspect of this Project.
(3) | Environmental Permits
In order to properly develop and quantify the sustainability of the Water Project, and prior to initiating the formal permitting process for the Water Project, we commissioned internationally recognized environmental consulting firm CH2M HILL to complete a comprehensive study of the water resources at the Project area. Following a year of analysis, CH2M HILL released its study of the aquifer system in February 2010. Utilizing new models produced by the U.S. Geological Survey in 2006 and 2008, the study estimated the total groundwater in storage in the aquifer system to be between 17 and 34 million acre-feet, a quantity on par with Lake Mead, the nation’s largest surface reservoir. The study also identified a renewable annual supply of native groundwater in the aquifer system currently being lost to evaporation. CH2M HILL’s findings, which were peer reviewed by leading groundwater experts, confirmed that the aquifer system could sustainably support the Water Project. Further, and also prior to beginning the formal environmental permitting process, we entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Natural Heritage Institute (“NHI”), a leading global environmental organization committed to protecting aquatic ecosystems, to assist with our efforts to sustainably manage the development of our Cadiz/Fenner property. As part of this “Green Compact”, we will follow stringent plans for groundwater management and habitat conservation, and create a groundwater management plan for the Water Project. As discussed in (2), above, we have entered into environmental cost sharing agreements with all participating water providers. The environmental cost sharing agreements created a framework for funds to be committed by each participant to share in the costs associated with the CEQA review work. SMWD is serving as the lead agency for the review process. ESA Associates, a leading environmental consulting firm, has been retained to prepare the Water Project’s environmental review documentation. A Notice of Preparation (“NOP”) of a Draft Environmental Impact Report (“Draft EIR”) formally commencing the public portion of the CEQA process was issued in February 2011 by SMWD. Two public scoping meetings were held in March 2011. SMWD released the Draft EIR on December 5, 2011, and conducted a 100-day public comment period, which concluded on March 14, 2012. As part of the comment period, SMWD hosted two public comment meetings and an informational workshop in January and February 2012. The Draft EIR is a key component of the Project’s environmental review and permitting process, and analyzes potential impacts to environmental resources at the Project area, including critical resources of the desert environment such as vegetation, mountain springs, and water and air quality. The Draft EIR considered peer-reviewed technical reports, as well as independently collected data, existing reports and a new state of the art Groundwater Management, Monitoring and Mitigation Plan (“GMMMP”) to complete its analysis of the Project. The Draft EIR summarizes that, with the exception of unavoidable short-term construction emissions, by implementing the measures developed in the GMMMP, the Project will avoid any significant impacts to desert resources. Following the close of the comment period, a Final Environmental Impact Report (“Final EIR”) will be compiled responding to public comments. Once complete, the Final EIR will be brought to the SMWD Board of Directors for certification and Project approval. Following the completion of all environmental requirements, construction of Project facilities would begin.
(4) | Construction and Working Capital
Once the environmental review is concluded, we expect that we will complete economic agreements with the Water Project participants and make arrangements for the construction phase of the Water Project. As described above, construction would primarily consist of well-field facilities at the Water Project site, a conveyance pipeline extending approximately 43 miles along the right-of-way described in (1), above, from the well-field to the Colorado River Aqueduct (“CRA”), and an energy source to pump water through the conveyance pipeline between the Project well-field and the CRA. Should the Water Project ultimately include the use of an existing natural gas pipeline as to which we hold option rights, then we will also incur costs associated with the exercise of this option and the conversion of the pipeline. In addition to the development projects described above, we believe that over the longer-term, the population of Southern California, Nevada, and Arizona will continue to grow, and that, in time, the economics of commercial and residential development of our properties will become attractive. We remain committed to the ongoing sustainable use of our land and water assets, and will continue to explore all opportunities for environmentally-responsible development of these assets. We cannot predict with certainty which of these various opportunities will ultimately be utilized.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for the business description and basis of presentation concepts. Business description describes the nature and type of organization including but not limited to organizational structure as may be applicable to holding companies, parent and subsidiary relationships, business divisions, business units, business segments, affiliates and information about significant ownership of the reporting entity. Basis of presentation describes the underlying basis used to prepare the financial statements (for example, US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, Other Comprehensive Basis of Accounting, IFRS). + References No definition available. + Details
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