Table of Contents

​

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

​

Form 10-K

​

​

For the fiscal year ended August 31, 2021

​

​

Commission File Number 0-8814

​

​

​

​

​

​

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

​

​

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

​

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

​

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

​

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

​

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (Section 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

​

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

​

​

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

​

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐

​

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

​

State the aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates computed by reference to the price at which the common equity was last sold, or the average bid and asked price of such common equity, as of the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter: $225,723,000

​

Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the registrant’s classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date: November 3, 2021 – 23,918,827

​

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

​

The information required by Part III is incorporated by reference from the registrant’s definitive proxy statement for the 2022 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days of the close of the fiscal year ended August 31, 2021. Alternatively, we may include such information in an amendment to this annual report on Form 10-K.

​

​

​

​

Table of Contents

​

Table of Contents

​

​

​

​

Table of Contents

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Statements that are not historical facts contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, or incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K, are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). The words “anticipate,” “seek,” “project,” “future,” “likely,” “believe,” “may,” “should,” “could,” “will,” “estimate,” “expect,” “plan,” “intend” and similar expressions, as they relate to us, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements relating to, among other things:

2

Table of Contents

​

Forward-looking statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. There are no assurances that any of our expectations will be realized and actual results could differ materially from those in such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements include, without limitation:

3

Table of Contents

​

We undertake no obligation, and disclaim any obligation, to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

​

4

Table of Contents

PART I

Item 1 – Business

Unless otherwise specified or the context otherwise requires, any reference to “Pure Cycle,” the “Company,” “we,” “us” or “our” is to Pure Cycle Corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiaries on a consolidated basis.

We are a diversified land and water resource development company. Through our land development segment, we develop master planned communities creating value and opportunity for investors, homeowners, water customers, and businesses along the busy I-70 corridor of the Denver metropolitan area. Our land development segment (including the newly launched rental division which will be described in detail below) was borne from our need to control the addition of water and wastewater customers to our systems as opposed to waiting for third-party entities to contract with us or for growth to come to us. At our core we are an innovative and vertically integrated water and wastewater service provider that owns and develops a valuable portfolio of water rights in a water short region. We believe our water resources, land, and infrastructure, located in southeastern Denver, are positioned in one of the most attractive development areas of the Denver metropolitan region and will provide favorable investment returns. The eastern I-70 corridor is experiencing continued substantial growth which we believe will continue over several decades.

We are developing the Sky Ranch Master Planned Community located along the eastern I-70 corridor (see map below with location of Sky Ranch and other service areas). Sky Ranch is planned to include up to 3,200 single family and multifamily homes, parks, open spaces, trails, recreational centers, schools, and over two million square feet of retail, commercial and light industrial space, all of which will be serviced by our water and wastewater resource development segment.

Our land development activities provide a strategic complement to our water and wastewater resource development business, and vice versa. A significant component of any master planned community is its ability to bring high quality domestic water, irrigation water, and wastewater services to the community. Having control over the water resources in conjunction with developing the land enables us to efficiently build and maintain infrastructure for potable water and irrigation water distribution, wastewater and storm water collection, roads, parks, open spaces, and other investments. It also enables us to efficiently align construction and delivery of these investments with phased take-down commitments from our home builder customers, minimizing significant excess capacity or downtime in these significant investments. By being the landowner, land developer, and water/wastewater provider, we believe we offer a more efficient development process, with more competitive lot pricing, which results in a more affordable and marketable product.

Our water and land assets are designed, constructed, operated, and maintained by us. Our water and land activities are each a distinct line of business which are operated as separate, but cohesive business segments. We refer to these segments as our water and wastewater resource development segment and our land development segment, both of which are described in greater detail below. In March 2021, we launched a new line of business which will be referred to as our Build-to-Rent or single-family home rental line of business. During our initial development phase of Sky Ranch, we retained ownership of three residential lots, on which we have begun building three single-family homes which we will own, maintain, and rent to qualified renters. We have contracted for the construction of the homes with a reputable home builder, and we expect these three homes to be completed and ready for renters in November 2021. We anticipate that this single-family home rental business will become our third segment when it is material to our operations.

Water and Wastewater Resource Development Segment

We operate our water and wastewater resource development segment on a vertically integrated basis. Specifically, we own or control the water and infrastructure required to (i) withdraw, treat, store and deliver water (i.e., water rights, wells, diversion structures, pipelines, reservoirs and treatment facilities required to extract and use the water); (ii) collect, treat, store and reuse wastewater (i.e., we design, build, and operate water treatment and wastewater reclamation facilities); and (iii) treat and deliver reclaimed water for irrigation use (i.e., we use and reuse our valuable water supplies through non-potable irrigation systems to irrigate parks and open spaces).

Our water supplies, which can be used in our exclusive service area and other areas along the eastern I-70 corridor, enable us to add significant value to our land development segment by bringing water to land that does not have water for development and enhance the value of that land, as well as our water resources, to a greater extent than either a traditional water utility or land developer can. Having a valuable portfolio of water in a water short region provides us with a competitive advantage over other land developers who may be required to buy expensive water, pay significant fees to another water provider, in lieu of buying water, and/or wait for a city to annex property and extend costly water and wastewater infrastructure to the property before development can begin. Having our own water supply gives us more control over the land entitlement and development process and the ability to capitalize on the value of our water

5

Table of Contents

rights, as well as enhances the value of the land to which we provide our water. In addition, we have significant in-house expertise in engineering, operations, and land development which allows us to take a hands-on approach to the water and land development process.

We mainly provide wholesale water and wastewater services to local governmental entities that in turn provide residential and commercial water and wastewater services to customers in their communities. Our largest customer is the Rangeview Metropolitan District (“Rangeview District”). We have the exclusive right to provide water and wastewater services to the Rangeview District’s customers in its exclusive 24,000-acre service area in the southeastern Denver metropolitan area pursuant to various agreements that are described in greater detail below. As of September 30, 2021, through the Rangeview District, we provide service to 855 single-family equivalent (“SFE”) water connections and ­­­580 SFE wastewater connections. These connections are located mainly in the southeastern metropolitan Denver area on the Lowry Range, at our Sky Ranch development and other nearby areas where we have acquired service rights. With the water rights we own and control, we believe we can serve an estimated 60,000 SFEs. An SFE is a customer, whether residential, commercial, or industrial, that imparts a demand on our water or wastewater systems based on the demand of a family of four persons living in a single-family house on a standard sized lot. For some instances herein, as context dictates, the term “acre-feet” (which is approximately 326,000 gallons) is used to designate an annual decreed amount of water available during a typical year.

In addition to our domestic customers, we provide raw water for oil and gas operations. Multiple operators lease more than 135,000 acres in and adjacent to our service area with more than 100 wells and miles of oil and gas collection lines. Sales of water to industrial customers in the oil and gas industry are unpredictable and fluctuate dramatically. After several years of significant activity throughout our service area, beginning around March 2020, demand for water from the oil and gas industry dropped precipitously due to low oil and gas prices caused by increased world-wide production and decreased demand due to stay-at-home orders resulting from the coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic. In 2021, we saw some recovery in the oil and gas markets, and this resulted in additional water sales to oil and gas clients in 2021.

Land Development Segment

In 2010, at a time when real estate prices were severely depressed due to the credit crisis the United States endured from 2007 until 2012, we purchased approximately 930 acres of land known as Sky Ranch. We acquired Sky Ranch with the intention of selling lots to national home builders to add value to our core water and wastewater operations by adding the ultimate purchasers of the homes as our water customers. In June 2017, we entered into agreements with three national home builders to sell the initial 505 residential lots at Sky Ranch. As of August 31, 2021, we have delivered all 505 finished lots in this development phase and in February 2021, we broke ground on the second development phase which will ultimately include approximately 850 residential lots. As of September 30, 2021, home builders have built and sold 368 homes at Sky Ranch, with another approximately 100 homes under construction and under contract with home buyers. Based on current sales levels, we believe homes in this initial development phase will be sold out by the end of the second quarter of our fiscal 2022, which is nearly two-years ahead of forecast. In February 2021, we broke ground on the second development phase at Sky Ranch. The second phase, which will be constructed in four subphases, will include 850 residential lots, for which we have contracted to sell 804 finished lots to four homebuilders who will construct attached and detached single-family residential homes. We have retained 46 lots which we will build homes to be included in our build-to-rent segment. As of August 31, 2021, we have completed the grading and received plats for the first subphase of 229 lots, which includes 10 to be used in our build-to-rent division. We believe it will take three years to complete all construction and sell all the finished lots all four subphases of the second development phase, depending on the market conditions and permitting process. Additionally, as disclosed in March 2021, Sky Ranch Academy was formed for the purposes of partnering with the Bennett School District 29J in support of a new K-12 Charter School to be located at Sky Ranch. Sky Ranch Academy has partnered with National Heritage Academy (www.nhaschools.com) to operate the charter. NHA brings over 25 years of experience providing educational services at 90 schools in nine states, educating more than 60,000 students including four other schools in Colorado. Sky Ranch Academy is expected to open in August 2022.

Build-to-Rent

As the housing market in Colorado continues to grow and prices continue to rise at double-digit rates, we believe rental units are becoming increasingly necessary to provide affordable housing options to the growing population in Colorado. During fiscal 2021, to capitalize on the growing single-family rental market, we launched our build-to-rent division. We contracted with a local semi-custom home builder to construct three single-family detached homes on three lots in our first development phase at Sky Ranch that were retained for future growth purposes. The homes are nearing completion and are expected to be available for rent in November 2021. These three rental units represent the initial investment into what we expect to become our third operating segment and expect to add 46 homes in our second development phase. We believe having ongoing recurring rental income, in a community we are heavily involved with, which is experiencing double digit growth in home values provides tremendous upside potential for growing our balance sheet and diversifying our recurring revenue streams.

6

Table of Contents

​

7

Table of Contents

Our Water Assets

We use our valuable and growing water and land assets to conduct our water and land development operations. Our water assets are summarized in the table below and further discussed in this section:

We capitalize costs associated with obtaining, defending, enhancing, and developing our water rights. We capitalize costs incurred to construct infrastructure required to deliver water and wastewater services to our customers, and we capitalize costs to develop our land assets that are not sold to home builders.

Rangeview Water Supply

The Rangeview Water Supply consists of 26,985 acre-feet of tributary surface water, non-tributary groundwater, and not non-tributary groundwater. Additionally, the Rangeview Water Supply has 26,000 acre-feet of adjudicated reservoir sites. Terminology typically used in the water industry that may help readers understand water rights are detailed below.

The Rangeview Water Supply is principally located in the southeast Denver metropolitan area at the “Lowry Range,” which is land owned by the State Board of Land Commissioners (“Land Board”) and is described below.

8

Table of Contents

We acquired our Rangeview Water Supply through the following agreements:

The Lease, the Lowry Service Agreement, the Export Agreement, and the Lowry Wastewater Agreement are collectively referred to as the “Rangeview Water Agreements.”

Additionally, in August 2019, we purchased approximately 300 acre-feet of fully consumptive surface water in the Lost Creek Designated Ground Water Basin (“Lost Creek Water”). The Lost Creek Water is currently adjudicated for agricultural use, and we have filed an application with the Colorado water court to change the use of the water to augment our municipal/industrial water supplies at the Lowry Range. We have consolidated our Lost Creek Water with our Rangeview Water Supply to provide service to the Rangeview District’s customers both on and off the Lowry Range.

Pursuant to service agreements with Rangeview (including the Lowry Service Agreement, the Lowry Wastewater Agreement and the Non-Lowry Service Agreement described below), we design, construct, operate and maintain the Rangeview District’s water and wastewater systems that are used to provide water and wastewater services to the Rangeview District’s customers located within the Rangeview District’s exclusive service area, and other approved areas. Subject to the terms and conditions of our agreements with the Rangeview District, we are the exclusive water and wastewater provider to the Rangeview District’s customers. For the Rangeview District’s customers located on the Lowry Range, we operate both the water and the wastewater systems during our contract period on behalf of the Rangeview District, which owns the facilities for both systems. At the expiration of our contract term in 2081, ownership of the water system facilities located on the Lowry Range used to deliver water to customers on the Lowry Range will revert to the Land Board, with the Rangeview District retaining ownership of any wastewater facilities located on the Lowry Range. The water system and related facilities used to deliver water to customers off the Lowry Range (including Export Water) will remain with us and the Rangeview District. We provide wholesale water service and wastewater service to customers located both on and outside of the Lowry Range, including customers of the Rangeview District and other governmental entities, and industrial and commercial customers.

The Rangeview Water Agreements grant us the right to use approximately 26,000 acre-feet of surface reservoir capacity to provide water service to customers both on and off the Lowry Range.

The Lowry Range Property

The Lowry Range consists of nearly 26,000 acres, or 40 square miles, of primarily undeveloped land in unincorporated Arapahoe County. It is located 20 miles southeast of downtown Denver and is one of the largest contiguous parcels under single ownership next to a major metropolitan area in the United States. Pursuant to our agreements with the Land Board, we, together with the Rangeview District, have the exclusive rights to provide water and wastewater services to 24,000 acres of the Lowry Range.

The Rangeview District

The Rangeview District is a quasi-municipal corporation and political subdivision of the State of Colorado formed in 1986 for the purpose of providing water and wastewater services to the Lowry Range and other approved areas. The Rangeview District is governed

9

Table of Contents

by an elected board of directors. Eligible voters and persons eligible to serve as directors of the Rangeview District must own an interest in property within the boundaries of the Rangeview District. We own certain rights and real property interests which encompass the current boundaries of the Rangeview District. The current directors of the Rangeview District are Mark W. Harding (our President, Chief Executive Officer, and a director), Kevin B. McNeill (our Vice President and Chief Financial Officer), Scott E. Lehman (an employee of ours), Dirk Lashnits (an employee of ours), and one independent board member. Pursuant to Colorado law, directors may receive $100 for each board meeting they attend, up to a maximum of $1,600 per year. Messrs. Harding, McNeill, Lehman, and Lashnits have all elected to forego these payments.

Land Board Royalties and Fees

Water Deliveries – Pursuant to the Rangeview Water Agreements, the Land Board is entitled to royalty payments based on a percentage of revenues earned from water sales that use the Rangeview Water Supply. The calculation of royalties depends on the location of the customer and whether the customer is a public or private entity. The Land Board does not receive a royalty from wastewater services. When we develop, operate, and deliver water from our Rangeview Water Supply, the Land Board receives royalties on the gross revenues at a rate of 12% from water delivered to all customers located on the Lowry Range and to all private customers located off the Lowry Range and 10% from public entity customers located off the Lowry Range. In the event that (i) metered production of water used on the Lowry Range in any calendar year exceeds 13,000 acre-feet or (ii) 10,000 acres of land on the Lowry Range have been rezoned to non-agricultural use, finally platted and water tap agreements have been entered into with respect to all improvements to be constructed on such acreage, the Land Board may elect, at its option, to receive (in lieu of its royalty of 12% from customers on the Lowry Range), 50% of the collective net profits (ours and the Rangeview District’s) derived from the sale or other disposition of water on the Lowry Range. To date, neither of these conditions has been met, and such conditions are not likely to be met any time soon. In addition to royalties on the sale of metered water deliveries, the Land Board will receive a royalty of two percent (2%) of the gross amount received from the sale of water taps to be served by the Rangeview Water Supply, except for the sale of any taps to Sky Ranch. Escalated royalties will be owed if we sell our Export Water outright rather than delivering water service. We do not currently anticipate selling our Export Water.

Annual Production Fee – We are also required to pre-pay the Land Board a minimum annual water royalty of $46,000 per year, which is credited against earned royalties each year.

Annual Rent – We pay the Land Board annual rent under the Lease of $8,400, which amount is increased every five years based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Consumers. The next increase will occur in 2026.

South Metropolitan Water Supply Authority (“SMWSA”) and Water Infrastructure Supply Efficiency Partnership (“WISE”)

SMWSA is a municipal water authority in Colorado organized to pursue the acquisition and development of water supplies on behalf of its members, which include the Rangeview District. SMWSA members include 14 Denver area water providers in Arapahoe and Douglas Counties. Pursuant to certain agreements between us and the Rangeview District, we agreed to provide funding to enable the Rangeview District to acquire rights to water projects undertaken by SMWSA, including rights to water supplied pursuant to the cooperative water project known as WISE. WISE provides for the purchase and construction of infrastructure (such as pipelines, water storage facilities, water treatment facilities, and other appurtenant facilities) to deliver water to and among the 10 members of the South Metro WISE Authority (“SMWA”), consisting of the Rangeview District and nine other SMWSA members, from the City and County of Denver acting through its Board of Water Commissioners (“Denver Water”) and the City of Aurora acting by and through its utility enterprise (“Aurora Water”). In exchange for funding the Rangeview District’s WISE obligations, we have the exclusive right to use and reuse the Rangeview District’s share of WISE water (approximately 9%) and infrastructure to provide water service to the Rangeview District’s

10

Table of Contents

customers and to receive the revenue from providing those services. Our current WISE subscription entitles us to approximately three million gallons per day of transmission pipeline capacity and increasing acre-feet of water per year as noted below.

​

​

The cost of the water to the members is based on the water rates charged by Aurora Water and can be adjusted each January 1. As of January 1, 2021, WISE water was $5.98 per thousand gallons and such rate will remain in effect through calendar 2021. Effective, January 1, 2022, WISE water is expected to increase to $6.13 per thousand gallons. In addition, we pay certain system operational and construction costs. If a WISE member, including the Rangeview District, does not need its WISE water each year or a member needs additional water, the members can trade and/or buy and sell water amongst themselves. For the year ended August 31, 2021, we, through the Rangeview District, purchased a total of 120 acre-feet of WISE water for $0.6 million. For the year ended August 31, 2020, we, through the Rangeview District, purchased a total of 49 acre-feet of WISE water for $0.1 million.

During the years ended August 31, 2021 and 2020, we provided $1.1 million and $2.8 million of financing to the Rangeview District to fund the Rangeview District’s obligation to purchase WISE water rights and pay for operational and construction charges. Ongoing funding requirements are dependent on the WISE water subscription amount and the Rangeview District’s allowable share of the operational and overhead costs of SMWA and construction activities related to delivery of WISE water.

Additionally, the Rangeview District has entered into an agreement with WISE to construct special facilities for $0.6 million, which began in our fiscal 2021. We are funding the construction of the special facility and the Rangeview District will remit 100% of the amount it receives to us. The construction of the special facility was approximately 75% complete as of August 31, 2021.

East Cherry Creek Valley System

Pursuant to a 1982 agreement, the Rangeview District may purchase water from East Cherry Creek Valley Water and Sanitation District’s (“ECCV”) Land Board system. ECCV’s Land Board system is comprised of eight wells and more than ten miles of buried water pipeline located on the Lowry Range. In May 2012, we entered into an agreement to operate and maintain the ECCV facilities allowing us to utilize the system to provide water to commercial and industrial customers, including hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas wells. The agreement allows us to use the ECCV system through April 30, 2032, in exchange for a flat monthly fee and a fee per 1,000 gallons of water produced from ECCV’s system, which is included in the water usage fees charged to customers.

Sources of Water and Wastewater Service Revenues

Our water and wastewater resource development segment generates revenue from the following sources, described in greater detail below:

​

11

Table of Contents

Monthly Metered Water Usage and Wastewater Treatment Fees

Monthly metered water usage fees are assessed to customers based on actual deliveries each month. Water usage fees are based on a tiered pricing structure that provides for higher prices as customers use greater amounts of water. The water usage fees for customers on the Lowry Range are noted in the table below:

Current Lowry Range Tiered Water Usage Pricing Structure

​

​

The figures in the table above reflect the amounts charged to the Rangeview District’s end-use customers on the Lowry Range. Pursuant to the Lease, the amounts charged by the Rangeview District to its end-use customers on the Lowry Range cannot exceed the average of similar rates and charges of three surrounding municipal water and wastewater service providers. In exchange for providing water service to the Rangeview District’s Lowry Range customers, we receive 98% of the usage charges received by the Rangeview District relating to water services after deducting the required royalty to the Land Board (described above at Rangeview Water Supply – Land Board Royalties and Fees).

The amounts charged by the Rangeview District to its end-use customers off the Lowry Range are determined pursuant to the Rangeview District’s service agreements with such customers and such rates may vary. In exchange for providing water service to the Rangeview District’s customers off the Lowry Range, we receive 98% of the usage charges received by the Rangeview District relating to water services after deducting any required royalty to the Land Board. The royalty to the Land Board is required for water service provided utilizing our Rangeview Water Supply, which includes most of our current customers off the Lowry Range except those at the Elbert & Highway 86 Commercial District (also known as “Wild Pointe” described below).

We sell bulk water at a rate of $14.76 per thousand gallons to commercial and industrial customers via hydrant meters or metered fill stations.

We also collect other immaterial fees and charges from customers and other users to cover miscellaneous administrative and service expenses, such as application fees, review fees, reinspection fees, and permit fees.

In exchange for providing wastewater services, we receive 90% of the Rangeview District’s monthly wastewater treatment fees, as well as the right to use or sell the reclaimed water.

Water and Wastewater Tap Fees

We generate significant revenues from fees charged to customers to connect to our water and wastewater systems. These fees are known as tap fees. The tap fee is a non-refundable fee that is payable typically at the time a building permit is granted for construction of a home or business and authorizes the property to connect to the water or wastewater system. Once granted, the right stays with the property. We have no obligation to physically connect the property to the lines. Once connected to the water and/or wastewater systems, the property has live service, and the customer can receive metered water deliveries from our system and send wastewater into our system. Thus, the customer has full control of the connection right as it can obtain all the benefits from this right. Our systems are “wholesale facilities,” namely those assets used to deliver water and wastewater to a service area or major regions or portions thereof. Wells, treatment plants, pump stations, tanks, reservoirs, transmission pipelines, and major sewage lift stations are typical examples of wholesale facilities.

The Rangeview District’s 2021 water tap fees are $27,753 per SFE, and its wastewater tap fees are $4,847.

In exchange for providing water service to the Rangeview District’s customers using the Rangeview Water Supply (other than taps to Sky Ranch, which are exempt), we receive 98% of the Rangeview District’s tap fees and the Land Board receives the remaining

12

Table of Contents

two percent as a royalty. In exchange for providing wastewater services, whether to customers on or off the Lowry Range, we receive 100% of the Rangeview District’s wastewater tap fees.

Construction and Special Facility Funding Fees

Construction and Special Facility Funding fees are fees we receive, typically in advance, from developers for us to build infrastructure that is normally the responsibility of the developer because the facilities service only the developer’s property. Those type of facilities may include retail facilities, which distribute water to and collect wastewater from an individual subdivision or a community, and special facilities, which are required to extend services to an individual development and are not otherwise classified as a typical wholesale facility or retail facilities. Temporary infrastructure required prior to construction of permanent water and wastewater systems or transmission pipelines to transfer water from one location to another are examples of special facilities. Once we certify that the special facilities have been constructed in accordance with our design criteria, the developer dedicates the special facilities to the Rangeview District, and we operate and maintain the facilities on behalf of Rangeview.

Consulting Fees

Consulting fees are fees we receive, typically monthly, from municipalities and area water providers for whom we provide contract operation services.

Industrial – Oil and Gas Operations Fees

We provide water for oil and gas operators that are performing hydraulic fracturing, mainly in the Niobrara Formation on and around our service area and our Sky Ranch property. These fees are paid based on the metered gallons of water delivered. Oil and gas drilling in our area is affected by the price of oil and state, local and federal government regulations. The number of wells drilled vary from year to year. Each well utilizes between 10 and 20 million gallons of water during the hydraulic fracturing process, which equates to selling water to between approximately 100 and 200 homes for an entire year. With a large percentage of the acreage surrounding the Lowry Range in Arapahoe, Adams, Elbert, and portions of Douglas Counties already leased by oil companies, we anticipate continuing to provide water for drilling and hydraulic fracturing in the future.

Service to Customers Not on the Lowry Range

In addition to customers on the Lowry Range, we have an agreement with the Rangeview District to be its exclusive water and wastewater service provider throughout its service area. This includes the design, construction, operation and maintenance of water and wastewater systems to serve the Rangeview District’s customers located outside the Lowry Range service area (for example Wild Pointe and Sky Ranch) (the “Non-Lowry Service Agreement”). In exchange for providing water and wastewater services to the Rangeview District’s customers that are not on the Lowry Range, we receive 100% of water and wastewater tap fees, 98% of the water usage fees, and 90% of the monthly wastewater service and usage fees received by the Rangeview District from these customers, after deduction of royalties due to the Land Board, if applicable (i.e., if we use a portion of the Rangeview Water Supply, such as the Export Water, to provide service to such customers). We are currently not using the Rangeview Water Supply at Sky Ranch, but we may do so in the future, in which case water usage fees to be collected for such service would become subject to the Land Board royalty.

Sky Ranch Water and Wastewater Service – As described in more detail below, we are developing approximately 930 acres of land as a Master Planned Community known as Sky Ranch. Pursuant to the Non-Lowry Service Agreement, we are the exclusive provider of water and wastewater services to all current and future residents, businesses, and other water users at the Sky Ranch development.

Wild Pointe – Elbert & Highway 86 Commercial Metropolitan District – In 2017, we entered into an agreement with the Rangeview District, which had entered into an agreement with Elbert & Highway 86 Commercial Metropolitan District (the “Elbert 86 District”) to operate and maintain a water system for residential and commercial customers at the Wild Pointe development in Elbert County. The water system includes two deep water wells, a pump station, treatment facility, storage facility, over eight miles of transmission lines, and over 450 acre-feet of water rights serving Wild Pointe. We provided $1.6 million in funding to acquire the exclusive rights to operate and maintain all the water facilities in exchange for payment of the remaining residential and commercial tap fees and annual water use fees. Service to Wild Pointe is governed by the Non-Lowry Service Agreement.

13

Table of Contents

Our Land Development Assets – Sky Ranch

In 2010, we purchased approximately 930 acres of undeveloped land in unincorporated Arapahoe County, which we are actively developing as the master planned community known as Sky Ranch. With the property acquisition, we also acquired nearly 830 acre-feet of water beneath Sky Ranch, and approximately 640 acres of oil and gas mineral rights. Sky Ranch is located 16 miles east of downtown Denver, four miles north of the Lowry Range, and four miles south of Denver International Airport.

Sky Ranch is zoned for residential, commercial, and retail uses, including up to 3,200 homes and more than two million square feet of commercial, retail, and light industrial development. The development of Sky Ranch will occur in multiple filings and phases which will take several years to complete. Our first development phase of more than 150 acres has a total of 509 detached single-family residential lots (see illustration below for the layout of this initial development phase). Of the 509 lots, we sold 505 finished lots to homebuilders, all of which were sold as of August 31, 2021, and retained the remaining lots for use in our single-family home rental business. In February 2021, we began construction on the second development phase, which will include 850 lots for which we have contracted to sell 804 lots to home builders for detached and attached single-family homes, and 46 lots we plan to use for our single-family home rental business. The second development phase, totaling approximately 250 acres, will be constructed in four subphases (see illustration below for the proposed layout of the second development phase). Development activities for the first subphase began in February 2021, and by August 31, 2021, we had received the plats for 229 lots, which includes 10 lots we will use in our single-family home rental business. These lots are anticipated to be finished and ready for the four homebuilders to begin constructing homes by the summer of 2022. The total sales price for the 804 lots being sold to the homebuilders is $65.0 million, which is subject to price escalations depending on development timing which are not included in that figure. Our preliminary total cost estimates for developing all 229 lots in the first subphase is $20.4 million, with approximately $17.2 million of that estimated to be spent on public improvements which are eligible for reimbursement by the Sky Ranch CAB. See below for a description of the conditions that may limit our ability to receive reimbursables and a definition of the Sky Ranch CAB.

14

Table of Contents

First Development Phase Illustrative Layout

​

15

Table of Contents

Second Development Phase Illustrative Layout

16

Table of Contents

As the land developer, we are providing finished lots (i.e. lots ready for building permits to construct homes) to each of the home builders. We build, or contract to build, the roads, curbs, wet and dry utilities, storm drains, parks, open spaces, and other related improvements as part of a fully master planned community. Each builder is required to purchase water and wastewater taps for each lot from the Rangeview District at the time of building permit, the cost of which depends on the size of the lot, the size of the house, and the amount of irrigated turf. Pursuant to the Non-Lowry Service Agreement, we receive all the water and wastewater tap fees from tap sales at Sky Ranch and 98% of the ongoing monthly water and wastewater service revenues.

Public improvements, such as roads, parks, and water and sanitary sewer mains, storm sewer, and drainage improvements, that are shared by all homeowners in the development and not specific to any private finished lot are ultimately owned by the governmental metropolitan district or other municipality that is responsible for the maintenance of the improvements. Upon completion and acceptance of certain public improvements by the “Sky Ranch Districts” or the “Sky Ranch CAB” (both of which are defined below), we are entitled to receive reimbursement for the verified public improvement costs. Pursuant to certain agreements with the Sky Ranch Districts and the Sky Ranch CAB, on their behalf we construct public infrastructure such as roads, curbs, storm water, drainage, sidewalks, parks, open space, trails etc., which costs are reimbursed to us by the Sky Ranch CAB, through funds generated by the Sky Ranch districts through taxes, fees, or the issuance of municipal bonds. See Note 2 to the accompanying financial statements regarding treatment and recognition of these public improvement costs.

Pursuant to our service agreements, we are required to construct all required wholesale water and wastewater improvements (i.e., a wastewater reclamation facility, water supply, storage, treatment, and other wholesale facilities) for the provision of water and wastewater service to the property. As of August 31, 2021, we have completed the required wholesale facilities and other infrastructure to provide water for the first 900 homes, and wastewater for over 2,000 homes at Sky Ranch. The most significant wholesale facility built was the wastewater reclamation facility, which cost $10.2 million and has a designed capacity to provide wastewater for more than 2,000 single-family homes before requiring expansion. This allows the treatment facility to process wastewater for several development phases at Sky Ranch before additional investment is needed to increase its capacity.

We expect to have other filings developing concurrently with the second filing that could include commercial, retail, and light industrial sites. We expect full development of the Sky Ranch Master Planned Community to take another eight to ten years.

Pursuant to the Sky Ranch Water and Wastewater Service Agreement, dated June 19, 2017, between PCY Holdings, LLC (a wholly-owned subsidiary of ours that holds title to the Sky Ranch land), and the Rangeview District, PCY Holdings, LLC, agreed to construct certain facilities necessary to provide water and wastewater service to Sky Ranch. The Rangeview District, through us as its exclusive service provider, agreed to provide water and wastewater services to the Sky Ranch property. We have installed over 15.5 miles of water delivery and wastewater collection infrastructure at a cost of $4.9 million, which is reimbursable by the Sky Ranch CAB as outlined in Note 14 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.

We have also leased the oil and gas minerals underlying the property to a major independent exploration and production company.

Sky Ranch Metropolitan Districts

The Sky Ranch Metropolitan District Nos. 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 are quasi-municipal corporations and political subdivisions of Colorado formed in 2004 for the purpose of providing services to the Sky Ranch property (the “Sky Ranch Districts”). The Sky Ranch Districts are governed by an elected board of directors. Eligible voters and persons eligible to serve as directors of the Sky Ranch Districts must own an interest in property within the boundaries of the district. We own certain rights and real property interests which encompass the current boundaries of the districts and certain of our employees serve on the boards of directors of the Sky Ranch Districts. The current directors of the districts are Mark W. Harding (our President, Chief Executive Officer, and a director), Kevin B. McNeill (our Vice President and Chief Financial Officer), Scott E. Lehman (an employee of ours), Dirk Lashnits (an employee of ours), and one independent board member. Pursuant to Colorado law, directors may receive $100 for each board meeting they attend, up to a maximum of $1,600 per year. Messrs. Harding, McNeill, Lehman, and Lashnits have all elected to forego these payments.

Sky Ranch Community Authority Board

Districts No. 1 and 5 of the Sky Ranch Districts, formed the Sky Ranch Community Authority Board (“Sky Ranch CAB”) to, among other things, design, construct, finance, operate and maintain certain public improvements for the benefit of the property within the boundaries and/or service area of the Sky Ranch Districts. In order for the public improvements to be constructed and/or acquired, it is

17

Table of Contents

necessary for each Sky Ranch District and/or the Sky Ranch CAB to be able to fund the improvements and pay its ongoing operations and maintenance expenses related to the provision of services that benefit the property. We entered into agreements, first with Sky Ranch Metropolitan District No. 1 in 2014 and later with the Sky Ranch CAB, that require us to fund expenses related to the construction of an agreed upon list of public improvements for the Sky Ranch Master Planned Community.

We and the Sky Ranch CAB entered into a Facilities Funding and Acquisition Agreement (the “FFAA”) effective November 2017, obligating us to advance funding to the Sky Ranch CAB for specified public improvements constructed from 2018 to 2023. All amounts owed under the FFAA bear interest at a rate of 6% per annum. Any advances not paid or reimbursed by the Sky Ranch CAB by December 31, 2058, for first phase and December 31, 2060, for the second phase, shall be deemed forever discharged and satisfied in full. Advances and verified costs expended by us for expenses related to the construction of the agreed upon public improvements are reimbursable to us by the Sky Ranch CAB. No repayment is required of the Sky Ranch CAB for advances made or expenses incurred related to the construction of public improvements unless and until the Sky Ranch CAB and/or Sky Ranch Districts generate sufficient funds from property taxes, fees, or the issuance of bonds in an amount sufficient to reimburse us for all or a portion of advances or other public improvement expenses incurred. The Sky Ranch CAB agrees to exercise reasonable efforts to issue bonds to reimburse us subject to certain limitations. In addition, the Sky Ranch CAB agrees to utilize any available moneys not otherwise pledged to payment of debt or used for operation and maintenance expenses to reimburse us. Since 2017, we have advanced the Sky Ranch CAB a total of $28.1 million for funding the construction of the public improvements. In November 2019, the Sky Ranch CAB issued bonds and repaid $10.5 million of the advances and in January 2021 the Sky Ranch CAB repaid $0.4 million from unencumbered funds resulting from a budget surplus in 2020.

Previously, the reimbursable expenditures we funded were expensed through land development construction costs, and project management revenue and interest income were not recognized as the reimbursement was deemed contingent on a sufficient tax base and or the issuance of municipal bonds for collectability to be reasonable assured. Additionally, the Sky Ranch CAB is contractually obligated to utilize any available funds not otherwise pledged to payment of previously issued bonds, used for operation and maintenance expenses, or otherwise encumbered, to reimburse us. As Sky Ranch continues to grow, housing values continue to increase, and as the Sky Ranch CAB has demonstrated the ability to repay the amounts owed to us, the collectability of reimbursable expenditures incurred to date has been determined to be probable, as such, during fiscal 2021 we have recognized the remaining reimbursable costs, project management fees, and interest. During the year ended August 31, 2021, we recognized $21.7 million as a Note receivable – related party with the offsetting entries being to Other income, Project management revenue and Interest income for costs deemed reimbursable from the first development phase at Sky Ranch. Due to continue growth and the continued belief the Sky Ranch CAB has the ability to repay amounts we spend on public improvements, the second phase reimbursable public improvements, along with the Project management revenue and interest income, totaling $3.1 million as of August 31, 2021, are being recorded as a Note receivable from the Sky Ranch CAB as incurred. In total, as of August 31, 2021, the Note receivable from the Sky Ranch CAB totals $24.8 million, which is comprised of $20.6 million of public improvement costs, $1.7 million of project management fees and $2.5 million of interest.  The Sky Ranch CAB has an obligation to repay us but the ability of the Sky Ranch CAB to repay us before the contractual termination dates is dependent upon the establishment of a tax base or other fee generating activities sufficient to recover reimbursable costs incurred. Costs incurred will be recognized as Land development inventories or Notes receivable – related party, dependent upon whether collectability is deemed to be reasonably assured. In addition, to the note receivable balance, the Sky Ranch CAB is obligated to refund $0.5 million for the reimbursement of construction costs from the Southeast Metropolitan Water Supply Authority (“SEMSWA”).  These costs will be distributed to the Sky Ranch CAB upon the acceptance of the stormwater infrastructure by SEMSWA, anticipated to be in fiscal year 2022. We recorded this reimbursable cost in trade accounts receivable at August 31, 2021.

The current directors of the Sky Ranch CAB are Mark W. Harding (our President, Chief Executive Officer, and a director), Kevin B. McNeill (our Vice President and Chief Financial Officer), Scott E. Lehman (an employee of ours), Dirk Lashnits (an employee of ours), and one independent board member. Pursuant to Colorado law, directors may receive $100 for each board meeting they attend, up to a maximum of $1,600 per year. Messrs. Harding, McNeill, Lehman, and Lashnits have all elected to forego these payments.

Other Assets

Oil and Gas Leases

In 2011, we entered into a three-year Oil and Gas Lease (the “Sky Ranch O&G Lease”) and Surface Use and Damage Agreement and received an up-front payment and a 20% of gross proceeds royalty (less certain taxes) from the sale of any oil and gas produced from the mineral estate we own at Sky Ranch. The Sky Ranch O&G Lease is now held by production, and we have been receiving royalties

18

Table of Contents

from the oil and gas production from six wells drilled within our mineral interest. During the years ended August 31, 2021 and 2020, we received $0.3 million $0.7 million in royalties attributable to these wells.

In September 2017, we entered into a three-year Paid-Up Oil and Gas Lease with Bison Oil and Gas, LLP (the “Bison Lease”) for the purpose of exploring for, developing, producing, and marketing oil and gas from 40 acres of mineral estate we own adjacent to the Lowry Range, and we received an up-front payment of $0.2 million. The up-front payment received pursuant to the Bison Lease is being recognized into revenue ratably over a three-year period, which expired in September 2020, and was not extended.

In July 2019, we entered into an Agreement on Locations of Oil and Gas Operations covering approximately 16 acres at Sky Ranch with the operator of the Sky Ranch O&G Lease (the “OGOA”). The Company received an up-front payment of $0.6 million in fiscal 2019 for the OGOA, which is being recognized as income on a straight-line basis over three years (the term of the OGOA). If after three years (by July 2022) the operator has not spud at least one well on the oil and gas operations area, the operator may extend the right to the OGOA one additional year by paying us $75,000. The operator may only extend the OGOA for two additional years for a total of five years. As of August 31, 2021, no wells have been drilled.

Arkansas River Land and Minerals

We own approximately 700 acres of land in the Arkansas River Valley in southeastern Colorado. We currently lease all these acres for dry land grazing. We intend to sell the land in due course and have classified it as a long-term investment. We also own approximately 13,900 acres of mineral interests in the Arkansas River Valley, which has no carrying value on our books due to an impairment charge of $1.4 million we recorded in fiscal 2020. We currently have no plans to sell our mineral interests.

Significant Customers

We primarily provide water and wastewater services on the Rangeview District’s behalf to the Rangeview District’s customers. The Rangeview District accounts for the majority of our water and wastewater service revenue. Refer to Note 9 in the accompanying consolidated financial statements for additional information on our significant customers.

​

Projected Operations

​

This section should be read in conjunction with Item 1A – Risk Factors.

Along the Colorado Front Range, there are over 70 water providers with varying needs for replacement and/or new water supplies. We believe that we are well positioned to assist certain of these providers in meeting their current and future water needs.

We design, construct, and operate our water and wastewater facilities using advanced water treatment and wastewater treatment technologies, which allow us to use our water supplies in an efficient and environmentally sustainable manner. We develop our water and wastewater systems in stages to efficiently meet customer demands in our service areas by managing capital investments required for construction of facilities. We use third-party contractors to construct our facilities as needed. We employ licensed water and wastewater operators to run our water and wastewater systems. As our systems expand, we expect to hire additional personnel to operate our systems, which include water production, treatment, testing, storage, distribution, metering, billing, and operations management.

Our water and wastewater systems conjunctively use surface and groundwater supplies and storage of raw water and highly treated reclaimed water supplies to provide a balanced sustainable water supply for our customers. Integrating conservation practices and incentives, together with effective water reuse, demonstrates our commitment to providing environmentally responsible and sustainable water and wastewater services. Water supplies and water storage reservoirs are competitively sought throughout the west and along the Front Range of Colorado. We believe that regional cooperation among area water providers in developing new water supplies, water storage, and transmission and distribution systems provides the most cost-effective way of expanding and enhancing service capacities for area water providers. We continue to seek opportunities for developing water supplies and water storage opportunities with other area water providers.

As we continue expanding and developing our Rangeview Water Supply, we anticipate needing a significant number of high-capacity deep water wells. These wells would be drilled into one or more of the three principal aquifers located beneath the Lowry Range, and, as with our current wells, the water would be delivered to central water treatment facilities for treatment prior to delivery to customers.

19

Table of Contents

Continued development of our Lowry Range surface water supplies will require facilities to divert surface water to storage reservoirs to be located on the Lowry Range, additional treatment facilities to treat the water prior to introduction into our distribution system(s), and additional surface water diversion facilities designed with capacities to divert the surface water when available (particularly during seasonal events such as spring run-off and summer storms) for storage in reservoirs constructed on the Lowry Range. We estimate the full build-out of water and wastewater facilities (including diversion structures, transmission pipelines, reservoirs, and water treatment facilities) to develop and deliver our portfolio of water would cost in excess of $900 million, and would accommodate water service to customers located on and outside the Lowry Range. We believe this build out would occur in phases over many decades, and we believe tap fees would be sufficient to fund the required infrastructure costs.

Our Denver-based supplies are a valuable, locally available resource located near the point of use. This enables us to incrementally develop infrastructure to produce, treat and deliver water to customers based on their growing demands.

During fiscal 2021 and 2020, combined, we invested over $6.3 million in plant and facilities that interconnect the Rangeview District, WISE, and Sky Ranch water and wastewater systems to provide water and wastewater services to our growing customers at Sky Ranch and elsewhere. We expect to continue to invest in water rights and facilities as our customer demands grow.

We continue developing our Sky Ranch property, including finishing lots for home builders, building additional water and wastewater infrastructure for residential and commercial development at the property, and having homes constructed for our single-family home rental business. During the years ended August 31, 2021 and 2020, we invested $7.3 million and $9.4 million in our Sky Ranch land to deliver finished lots and we spent under $1.0 million so far constructing three units for use in our build-to-rent business. Although the first development phase was our first project as a land developer, it was done ahead of our original schedule and on budget. We anticipate the first subphase of the second development phase, which broke ground in February 2021, to incur a total of $20.4 million of construction costs to deliver the lots, which is planned to occur over three years and be funded by the $17.8 million of total fees to be paid under our lot sales agreements and the reimbursement by the Sky Ranch CAB of $17.2 million of estimated public improvement costs. During the years ended August 31, 2021 and 2020, we sold 167 and 201 water and wastewater taps at Sky Ranch to homebuilders, which generated $5.2 million and $5.6 million of tap fees. As of August 31, 2021, we have sold 464 water and wastewater taps in the first development phase of Sky Ranch, which we believe the remaining 41 water and wastewater taps will be sold before the end of our second fiscal quarter of 2022, which will produce $1.2 million in revenue and cash. Based on current prices and engineering estimates, we believe the second development phase of Sky Ranch will produce more than $24.0 million in water and wastewater tap fee revenue and cash over several years.

We are nearing completion of the first three rental units at Sky Ranch, and in conjunction with the second development phase, plan to build more than 47 additional rental units over several years. We anticipate building these units concurrent with construction of homes in the second development phase using a combination of home builders that are building homes in this phase along with other builders as needed to ensure homes are delivered in a timely and cost-effective manner. We are working on finalizing the proposed size and layouts of the rental units to be constructed and currently do not have an estimate of the costs to construct or potential returns of the homes.

We plan to develop additional water assets within the Denver area and are exploring opportunities to utilize our water assets in areas adjacent to our existing water supplies. Additionally, we continue to source additional land acquisitions that could be paired with our water to provide additional growth to both our land development and water and wastewater segments.

Growth in Colorado

Calendar year 2020 and 2021 were strong years for the Colorado housing market. As COVID-19 escalated and has continued to hold-on, we took and continue to adapt measures to protect the health and well-being of our employees, customers, business partners, and their families. Our home builder customers also took and continue to adapt precautionary measures to ensure the safety of their employees, customers, business partners, and their families. These measures varied by builder. Due to COVID-19, we have witnessed several changing consumer patterns, including residents leaving downtown urban areas to buy homes in the suburbs. This put our Sky Ranch community in the enviable position of being able to respond to this demand due to its great location, affordable home prices, available inventory, and easy access to work centers and major transportation corridors. We believe our ability to pair our water to our land and our in-house expertise for operating our systems allowed us to provide home builders with an affordable and sustainable master planned community that allowed our builders to quickly satisfy the increased demand from home buyers.

20

Table of Contents

Despite the continued impacts of COVID-19, Colorado has continued to grow. According to the 2020 census report, Colorado added over 744,000 residents from 2010 to 2020, a growth of 14.8% bringing the Colorado population to nearly 5.8 million. A Statewide Water Supply Initiative report by the Colorado Water Conservation Board estimates that the South Platte River basin, which includes the Denver metropolitan region (and our Sky Ranch community), could require an additional 400,000 acre-feet of water by the year 2030 due to continued growth. What makes this more difficult for land developers and builders is that Colorado law requires developers to demonstrate they have sufficient water supplies for their proposed projects before zoning applications will be considered. This means developers and builders must solve their own water problems prior to development rather than wait for cities and municipalities to solve the problem. This indicates that water will continue to be critical to growth prospects for the region and the state, and that competition for available sources of water will continue to intensify.

Growth in the Denver area has trended east with significant activity occurring along the I-70 corridor, an area which enjoys excellent transportation infrastructure with I-70, rail access, and Denver International Airport (“DIA”). The region has significant employment centers, including DIA, the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, an Amazon fulfillment center, the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center, Buckley Airforce Base, and more, creating demand for residential, retail, and commercial development opportunities.

This tremendous growth, coupled with dwindling new and resale inventory, along with a shift in lifestyle choices from home ownership to renting, has pushed the single-family rental market into double-digit growth. Although this market has existed for decades, the focus has shifted from individuals owning the units to commercial institutions buying large blocks of houses for rentals. The single-family rental space is emerging as one of the strongest growth sectors in commercial real estate. Demand for rentals SFR has been steadily increasing due to current demographic trends related to Gen-Y and baby boomers; however, migration patterns related to Covid-19 have accelerated that demand, and this single-family rental growth is expected to outpace multifamily, office, retail, storage, and hospitality growth by 2022. As the demand for more single-family rental properties grows, an increasing number of larger investors are expanding their investment strategy to include the product. The single-family rental market is estimated at $3.4 trillion, compared to $3.5 trillion for the multifamily market, and institutional investors make up less than 2% of the market compared to 55% for the multifamily market. As more young families, families with children, and retirees look to rent single family homes with yards and upscale amenities on a long-term basis, more investors are looking to the single-family rental markets to expand their portfolios and grow their capital.

​

In addition to actively seeking to expand our land holdings for development purposes, we also market our water supplies and services to developers and home builders that are active along the Colorado Front Range as well as other area water providers in need of additional supplies.

​

Colorado’s future water needs will be met through conservation, reuse, and the development of new supplies. The Rangeview District’s rules and regulations for water and wastewater service call for adherence to strict conservation measures, including low-flow water fixtures, high efficiency appliances, and advanced irrigation control devices. Additionally, our systems are designed and constructed using a dual-pipe water distribution system to segregate the delivery of high-quality potable drinking water to customers through one system and a second system to supply raw or reclaimed water for irrigation demands in parks and open spaces. About one-half of the water used by a typical Denver-area residential water customer is used for outdoor landscape and lawn irrigation. We believe that raw or reclaimed water supplies provide the lowest cost, most environmentally sustainable water for outdoor irrigation. We expect our systems to include an extensive water reclamation process in which essentially all effluent water from wastewater treatment plants will be reused to meet non-potable outdoor irrigation water demands. Our dual-distribution systems demonstrate our commitment to environmentally responsible water management policies in our water-short region.

​

Labor and Raw Materials

We competitively bid contracts for infrastructure improvements (grading, utilities, roads, water, and wastewater infrastructure) at Sky Ranch. Many of our contractors enter fixed priced contracts where the contractor is at risk for cost overruns prior to completion of improvements. Under these fixed-price contracts, the contract prices are established in part based on fixed, firm subcontractor quotes on contracts and on cost and scheduling estimates. These quotes or estimates may be based on several assumptions, including assumptions about prices and availability of labor, equipment and materials, and other issues. Increased costs or shortages of skilled labor, concrete, steel, pipe, and other materials could cause increases in development costs and delays. These shortages and delays may result in delays in the delivery of the lots under development or the completion of water or wastewater facilities, increase costs for us or other contractors on our projects, reduce gross margins from sales, or subject us to penalties or defaults under our agreements. While we contract with

21

Table of Contents

third parties for our labor and materials at a fixed price, which we believe allows us the ability to mitigate the risks associated with shortages of and increases in the cost of labor and building materials, other unforeseen factors may arise which could increase our costs.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, we have continued to enforce many safety measures enacted to protect the health and well-being of our employees, customers, business partners, and their families. While state and local mandates have been eased, we continue to encourage voluntary vaccinations and healthy practices such as hand washing, disinfecting, social distancing, and face coverings when necessary. We have been able to maintain our level of efficiency with the use of video conferencing and electronic data sharing platforms. We were informed that our builder customers also took precautionary measures to ensure the safety of their employees, customers, business partners, and their families. These measures varied by builder. As a result, some of our builder customers reported material net housing order declines in 2020. However, they are also reporting material increases in orders since the stay-at-home orders have been reduced. We had been expecting to accelerate deliveries of the remaining finished lots at Sky Ranch into fiscal 2020; however, because of the COVID-19 precautionary measures and stay-at-home orders, we delivered the remaining lots during the first quarter of fiscal 2021. These deliveries were still ahead of the original delivery dates set forth in our contracts with the home builders by nearly two years. The most dramatic impact on our operations has been the delay in inspections, the permit process and other activities requiring governmental agencies due to expansive work restrictions imposed on their operations. We expect COVID-19 to continue to play a role in potential delays related to the second filing at Sky Ranch due to rapidly changing governmental orders, city and country shutdowns, and public health concerns. Mainly, we have experienced delays in the permitting process through the county which has delayed the construction of Phase two of the Sky Ranch development.

Competition

Water and Wastewater Services

We negotiate individual service agreements with our governmental customers and with their developers and/or home builders to design, construct and operate water and wastewater systems and to provide services to end use customers of governmental entities and to commercial and industrial customers. These service agreements seek to address all aspects of the development of the water and wastewater systems, including:

​

Although we have exclusive long-term water and wastewater service contracts for 24,000 acres of the Lowry Range, Wild Pointe, and Sky Ranch pursuant to our service agreements, providing water and wastewater service is subject to competition. Alternate sources of water are available, principally from other private parties such as farmers or others owning water rights that have historically been used for agriculture, and from municipalities seeking to annex new development areas in order to increase their tax base. Our principal competition in areas close to the Lowry Range is the City of Aurora. Principal factors affecting competition for water service include the availability of water for the particular purpose, the cost of delivering the water to the desired location (including the cost of required taps), and the reliability of the water supply during drought periods, and the political climate for additional annexations. We estimate that the water assets we own and have the exclusive right to use have a supply capacity of approximately 60,000 SFE units, and we believe that they provide us with a significant competitive advantage along the Front Range. Our legal rights to the Rangeview Water Supply have been confirmed for municipal use, and our water supply is close to Denver area water users. We believe that our pricing structure is competitive and that our water portfolio is well balanced among surface water rights, groundwater rights, storage capacity and reclaimed water supplies.

Land Development

Developing raw land is a highly competitive business, requires substantial upfront capital and typically requires many years to complete. There are many developers, as well as properties and development projects, in the same geographic area in which Sky Ranch is located. Competition among developers and projects is determined by the location of the real estate, the market appeal of the development plan, the cost and value of the end product, the developer’s ability to build, market and deliver projects on a timely and cost effective basis, and the availability of water to serve the project. Residential developers sell to home builders, who in turn compete based on location, price/value, market segmentation, product design, and reputation. Commercial, retail, and industrial developers sell to and/or compete

22

Table of Contents

with other developers, owners, and operators of real estate for a limited number of potential buyers. We believe we have exceeded the market’s expectations with the delivery of our initial phase lots at Sky Ranch and have demonstrated we have the ability and expertise to continue to deliver lots in a large-scale master planned community.

Environmental, Health and Safety Regulation

Provision of water and wastewater services is subject to regulation under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Water Act, related state laws, and federal and state regulations issued under these laws. These laws and regulations establish criteria and standards for drinking water and for wastewater discharges. In addition, we are subject to federal and state laws and other regulations relating to solid waste disposal and certain other aspects of our operations.

Environmental compliance issues may arise in the normal course of operations or because of regulatory changes. We attempt to align capital budgeting and expenditures to address these issues in a timely manner.

Safe Drinking Water Act

The Safe Drinking Water Act establishes criteria and procedures for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (the “EPA”) to develop national quality standards for drinking water. Regulations issued pursuant to the Safe Drinking Water Act and its amendments set standards on the amount of certain microbial and chemical contaminants and radionuclides allowable in drinking water. The State of Colorado has assumed primary responsibility for enforcing the standards established by the Safe Drinking Water Act and has adopted the Colorado Primary Drinking Water Standards (Code of Colorado Regulations 5 CCR 1003-1). Current requirements for drinking water are not expected to have a material impact on our financial condition or results of operations as we have made and are making investments to meet existing water quality standards. In the future, we might be required to change our method of treating drinking water and make additional capital investments if additional regulations become effective.

The federal Groundwater Rule became effective December 1, 2009. This rule requires additional testing of water from well sources and under certain circumstances requires demonstration and maintenance of effective disinfection. In 2009, Colorado adopted Article 13 to the Colorado Primary Drinking Water Standards to establish monitoring and compliance criteria for the Groundwater Rule. We have implemented measures to comply with the Groundwater Rule.

Clean Water Act

The Clean Water Act regulates wastewater discharges from drinking water and wastewater treatment facilities and storm water discharges into lakes, rivers, streams, and wetlands. The State of Colorado has assumed primary responsibility for enforcing the standards established by the federal Clean Water Act for wastewater discharges from domestic water and wastewater treatment facilities and has adopted the Colorado Water Quality Control Act and related regulations, which also regulate discharges to groundwater. It is our policy to obtain and maintain all required permits and approvals for discharges from our water and wastewater facilities and to comply with all conditions of those permits and other regulatory requirements. A program is in place to monitor facilities for compliance with permitting, monitoring, and reporting for wastewater discharges. From time to time, discharge violations might occur which might result in fines and penalties, but we have no reason to believe that any such fines or penalties are pending or will be assessed.

Solid Waste Disposal

The handling and disposal of residuals and solid waste generated from water and wastewater treatment facilities is governed by federal and state laws and regulations. We have a program in place to monitor our facilities for compliance with regulatory requirements, and we do not anticipate that costs associated with our handling and disposal of waste material from our water and wastewater operations will have a material impact on our business or financial condition.

Employees and Human Capital

We currently have 31 employees, all of whom are full-time.

None of our employees are represented by a union or covered by a collective bargaining agreement. We have not experienced any work stoppages and we consider our relationship with our employees to be good.

23

Table of Contents

Our human capital resources objectives include, as applicable, identifying, recruiting, retaining, incentivizing and integrating our existing and new employees, advisors and consultants. The principal purposes of our equity incentive plan are to attract, retain and reward personnel through the granting of stock-based compensation awards, in order to increase stockholder value and the success of our company by motivating such individuals to perform to the best of their abilities and achieve our objectives.

Other

Pure Cycle was incorporated in Delaware in 1976 and reincorporated in Colorado in 2008.

Available Information and Website Address

Our website address is www.purecyclewater.com. We make available free of charge through our website our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and all amendments to these reports as soon as reasonably practicable after filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).

These reports and all other material we file with the SEC may be obtained directly from the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/companysearch.html, under CIK code 276720. The contents of our website are not incorporated by reference into this report.

​

Item 1A – Risk Factors

The following section describes the material risks and uncertainties that we believe could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and the market price of our common stock. The risks discussed below include forward-looking statements, actual results may differ materially from those discussed in these forward-looking statements. These risks should be read in conjunction with the other information set forth in this report, including the accompanying consolidated financial statements and notes thereto.

Risks Related to the Impacts the Economy and External Forces May Have on Our Operations

Our business, operations and financial condition and results may be impacted by the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic to varying degrees.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has, and is expected to continue to have, a material adverse impact on local and global economies. We have continued to enforce many safety measures enacted to protect the health and well-being of our employees, customers, business partners, and their families. While state and local mandates have been eased, we continue to encourage voluntary vaccinations and healthy practices such as hand washing, disinfecting, social distancing, and face coverings when necessary.

For our second development phase we planned to begin delivering finished lots at Sky Ranch in fiscal 2021; however, because of the COVID-19 precautionary measures, delays in inspections, delays in the permitting process and other activities requiring governmental agencies due to expansive work restrictions imposed on their operations, we will not deliver finished lots in the second phase until fiscal 2022. Mainly, we have experienced delays in the permitting process through the county which has delayed the revenue recognition in the second phase of the Sky Ranch development.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic poses the risk that we or our employees, governmental agencies permitting our projects, suppliers, consumers, and other business partners, including our home builders, may be prevented from conducting business activities in the ordinary course should the United States, the state of Colorado, or local governmental authorities once again implement restrictions. New shutdowns or other restrictions could adversely impact the availability or cost of materials, our ability to hire and retain qualified employees, the availability of qualified subcontractors, which could limit our business operations or increase our costs.

The duration of the COVID-19 outbreak and its ultimate impact on us and, on the global economy, cannot be determined with certainty. The COVID-19 pandemic could result in significant and continued declines in global financial markets, higher default rates, and a substantial economic downturn or recession. The extent to which COVID-19 will affect us will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information that may emerge concerning the severity of COVID-19 and the

24

Table of Contents

actions taken to contain COVID-19. Given the significant economic and financial market disruptions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, our results of operations could be adversely impacted.

Our operations are concentrated in the Front Range area of Colorado; we are subject to general economic conditions in Colorado. Our assets and operations are located solely in the Front Range area of Colorado. Our performance could be adversely affected by economic conditions in, and other factors relating to, Colorado, including supply and demand for housing, and zoning and other regulatory conditions. To the extent that the general economic conditions in the Front Range area of Colorado deteriorate, the value of our assets, our results of operations and our financial condition could be materially adversely affected.

We are dependent on the housing market and development in our targeted service areas for future revenues. The homebuilding industry is cyclical and a deterioration in industry conditions or downward changes in general economic or other business conditions could adversely affect our business, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition. Providing wholesale water service using our Colorado Front Range water supplies is one of our key sources of future revenue. The timing and amount of these revenues will depend in part on housing developments being built near our water assets. The development of the Lowry Range, Sky Ranch and other properties is subject to many factors that are outside our control. If wholesale water sales are not forthcoming or development on the Lowry Range, Sky Ranch or other properties in our targeted service areas is delayed or curtailed, we may need to use our capital resources, incur additional short or long-term debt obligations or seek to sell additional equity. We may not be successful in obtaining additional capital. Although there have been positive market gains in the Colorado housing market in recent years, if a downturn in the homebuilding or credit markets returns, or if the state or national economy weakens and economic concerns intensify, such a development could have a significant negative impact on our business and financial condition and our plans for future development of additional phases of Sky Ranch.

Although the Colorado economy has become increasingly diverse, the oil and gas industry remains an important segment of the Colorado economy. New statutes, regulations or other initiatives that would limit oil and gas exploration or increase the cost of exploration, as well as declines in the price of oil and gas, among other things, could lead to a downturn in the Colorado economy, including increased unemployment, which would likely have a negative impact on the housing market and our business and financial condition.

In addition, the residential homebuilding industry is cyclical and is highly sensitive to changes in general economic conditions such as levels of employment, consumer confidence and income, availability of mortgage financing for acquisitions, interest rate levels and inflation, among other factors. Additionally, the residential housing market is impacted by federal and state personal income tax rates and provisions, and government actions, policies, programs and regulations directed at or affecting the housing market, including the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, tax benefits associated with purchasing and owning a home, and the standards, fees and size limits applicable to the purchase or insuring of mortgage loans by government-sponsored enterprises and government agencies. In 2019, housing starts in Colorado declined compared to housing starts in 2018. However, in 2020 and 2021 housing starts as well as home prices in Colorado increased. Although the number of housing starts continues to be better than during the last economic downturn, if the recovery of the Colorado housing market reverses, we could experience declines in the market value of our inventory and demand for our lots and rental units, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition.

Significant competition from other development projects could adversely affect our results. Land development is a highly competitive business. There are numerous land developers, as well as properties and development projects, in the same geographic area in which Sky Ranch is located. Many of our land development competitors may have advantages over us, such as more favorable locations, which may provide more desirable schools and easier access to roads and shopping, or amenities that we may not offer, as well as greater financial resources. If other development projects are found to be more attractive to home buyers, home builders or other developers or operators of real estate based on location, price, or other factors, then we may be pressured to reduce our prices or delay further development, either of which could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition. The single-family home rental market is also highly competitive. There are numerous companies and individuals that own rental homes in the Sky Ranch area which may have more experience than we do renting single-family homes, better locations, and better pricing. If we are unable to rent the homes at rates that cover our costs or are unable to manage the properties and expenses incurred to manage the properties, the impact to our business, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition could be materially negative.

Our operations could be adversely impacted by material and component price volatility and availability, as well as supplier concentration. Our operations could be adversely impacted by material and component price volatility and availability, as well as supplier concentration The market prices for certain materials and components we purchase, primarily steel and PVC piping, have been

25

Table of Contents

volatile. U.S. steel index prices alone have increased 100 percent since the beginning of 2021. In addition, some components are subject to long lead times. Disruptions to the commercial transportation network, including limited container and trucking capacity and port congestion, have increased supplier delivery times for materials and components to our facilities.

Increases in material, labor, supplier, logistics and other operating costs, or supply chain delays and shortages, could cause lower gross margins or lost sales and adversely impact our business, financial position, results of operations and cash flows. Our gross margins and financial performance may be adversely affected by increases in our operating costs, such as material, labor, supplier costs, logistics and energy costs, all of which may be subject to inflationary pressures. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen operating costs trending upward due to COVID-19 movement control constraints, labor shortages, logistics disruptions, commodity cost increases and shortages and overall increased demand in the land development and water business industries. These risks are particularly prevalent in Malaysia and the Philippines. Both countries continue to enforce increased COVID-19 restrictions on movement and businesses and these restrictions have impacted, and are expected to continue to impact, our local suppliers and related costs and lead-times. In addition, some of our customers have experienced raw material shortages. Any such shortages can in turn impact and delay our ability to service our customers.

While we seek to mitigate any cost increases, labor impacts and supply chain delays and shortages, these efforts may not be successful, and we may experience adverse impacts due to such factors. We cannot predict the extent of these current trends or other future increases in operating costs. To the extent such costs continue to increase, we may be prevented, in whole or in part, from passing such cost increases through to our existing and prospective customers, or our customers may seek other competitive sources due to supply chain delays, which could have a material adverse impact on our gross margins and business, financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

Our water business is subject to seasonal fluctuations and weather conditions that could affect demand for our water service and our revenues and that could become more extreme with climate change. We depend on an adequate water supply to meet the present and future demands of our customers and their end-use customers and to continue our expansion efforts. Conditions beyond our control may interfere with our water supply sources. Drought and overuse may limit the availability of water, and such droughts may become more frequent and prolonged with climate change. These factors might adversely affect our ability to supply water in sufficient quantities to our customers, and our revenues and earnings may be adversely affected. Additionally, cool, and wet weather, as well as drought restrictions and our customers’ conservation efforts, may reduce consumption demands, adversely affecting our revenue and earnings. Furthermore, freezing weather may contribute to water transmission interruptions caused by pipe and main breakage. If we experience an interruption in our water supply, it could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Demand for our water during the warmer months is generally greater than during cooler months due primarily to additional requirements for water in connection with cooling systems, irrigation systems and other outside water use. Throughout the year, and particularly during typically warmer months, demand will vary with temperature and rainfall levels. If temperatures during the typically warmer months are cooler than expected or there is more rainfall than expected, the demand for our water may decrease and adversely affect our revenues.

The physical impacts of natural disasters, and severe weather conditions could reduce consumer demand for housing, result in service disruptions, delay the closing of the sale of residential lots at Sky Ranch and increase our costs, any of which could harm our sales and results of operations. We conduct our operations in the Colorado Front Range, which is subject to natural disasters, including droughts, tornadoes, wildland fires, and severe weather. The occurrence of natural disasters or severe weather conditions in Colorado or elsewhere could result in interruptions in in our water and wastewater operations, delay our construction activities, increase costs, and lead to shortages of labor and materials. Moreover, such extreme weather conditions and natural disasters are likely to increase in frequency and intensity as a result of projected unabated climate change. If our insurance or the insurance of our subcontractors does not fully cover business interruptions or losses resulting from these events, our results of operations could be adversely affected.

Risks Related to Our Business and Operations

We may not generate sufficient cash flows from operations or other capital resources to pursue our business objectives. While we have generated net income in the past several years, prior to that we had a history of losses. Our cash flows from operations generally have not been sufficient to fund our operations, and we have been required to raise debt and equity capital and sell assets to remain in operation. Since 2004, we have raised over $76.0 million through (i) the issuance of more than $25.0 million of common stock (including the issuance of stock pursuant to the exercise of options, net of expenses), (ii) the issuance of $5.2 million of convertible debt, which was converted to common stock on January 11, 2011, and (iii) the sale of our Arkansas River water and land for $45.8 million in cash.

26

Table of Contents

Our continuing development of Sky Ranch requires significant cash expenditures. We have advanced the Sky Ranch CAB more than $39.0 million for construction of public improvements on the Sky Ranch property and expect to advance another $16.9 million for the completion of our initial filing and the first subphase of the second development phase. The Sky Ranch CAB is not required to repay us for advances made or expenses incurred for improvements at Sky Ranch unless and until the Sky Ranch CAB and/or Sky Ranch Districts generate sufficient funds from either tax revenues, fees or by issuing bonds in an amount sufficient to reimburse us for all or a portion of advances made or expenses incurred. We have funded and expect to continue to fund such expenditures with cash on hand and cash flows from operations. As of August 31, 2021, we had just over $20.1 million of cash on hand. If our cash on hand and future cash flows from operations are not sufficient to fund our operations and the significant capital expenditure requirements to continue to develop Sky Ranch, we may be forced to seek to obtain additional debt or equity capital. Economic conditions and disruptions have previously caused substantial volatility in capital markets, including credit markets and the banking industry, increasing the cost, and significantly reducing the availability of financing, which may reoccur in the future. There can be no assurance that financing will be available on acceptable terms or at all.

We may not be able to manage the increasing demands of our expanded operations. We have historically depended on a limited number of employees to administer our operations, interface with governmental entities, market our services, and plan and implement the construction and development of our assets. The execution of contracts for lot sales and the continued development of Sky Ranch, including our new single-family home rental business, have increased the size and complexity of our business. The success of our current business and future business development and our ability to capitalize on growth opportunities depends on our ability to attract and retain additional experienced and qualified persons to operate and manage our business. We may not be able to maximize the value of our assets if we are unable to attract and retain qualified personnel and to manage the demands of a workforce that has nearly tripled in the past few years. State regulations set the training, experience and qualification standards required for our employees to operate specific water and wastewater facilities. Failure to find state-certified and qualified employees to support the operation of our facilities could put us at risk for, among other things, regulatory penalties (including fines and suspension of operations), operational errors at the facilities, improper billing, and collection processes, claims for personal injury and property damage, and loss of contracts and revenues. We may be unsuccessful in managing our operations and growth.

The rates that the Rangeview District is allowed to charge customers on the Lowry Range for water services are limited by the Lease with the Land Board and our contract with the Rangeview District and may not be sufficient to cover our costs of construction and operation. The prices charged by the Rangeview District for water service on the Lowry Range are subject to pricing regulations set forth in the Lease with the Land Board. Both the tap fees and usage rates and charges are capped at the average of the rates of three nearby water providers. Annually, the Rangeview District surveys the tap fees and rates of the three nearby providers, and the Rangeview District may adjust tap fees and rates and charges for water service on the Lowry Range based on the average of those charged by this group. We receive 100% of tap fees and 98% of water usage fees charged by the Rangeview District to its customers after the deduction of royalties owed to the Land Board. Our costs associated with the construction of water systems and the production, treatment and delivery of water are subject to market conditions and other factors, which may increase at a significantly higher rate than that of the fees we receive from the Rangeview District. Factors beyond our control and which cannot be predicted, such as government regulations, insurance and labor markets, drought, water contamination and severe weather conditions, like tornadoes and floods, may result in additional labor and material costs that may not be recoverable under the current rate structure. Both increased customer demand and increased water conservation may also impact the overall cost of our operations. If the costs for construction and operation of our wholesale water services, including the cost of extracting our groundwater, exceed our revenues, we would be providing water service to the Rangeview District for use at the Lowry Range at a loss. The Rangeview District may petition the Land Board for rate increases; however, there can be no assurance that the Land Board would approve a rate increase request. Further, even if a rate increase were approved, it might not be granted in a timely manner or in an amount sufficient to cover the expenses for which the rate increase was sought.

Our water sales for the past several years have been highly concentrated among companies providing hydraulic fracturing services to the oil and gas industry, and such sales can fluctuate significantly. Our water sales have been historically concentrated directly and indirectly with a limited number of companies providing hydraulic fracturing services to the oil and gas industry on and around the Lowry Range and our Sky Ranch property. Generally, investment in oil and gas development is dependent on the price of, and demand for, oil and gas. We have no long-term contractual commitments that will ensure these sales continue in the future. The oil and gas industry has periodically gone through periods when activity has significantly declined due to low oil and gas prices, reduced world-wide demand and other impacts to the world-wide economy such as the COVID-19 pandemic, which have a negative impact on the water we sell to these operators.

27

Table of Contents

Further sales to this customer base as well as renewals of our oil and gas leases, if any, in the future are impacted by statutory ballot initiatives, regulations, rulemaking initiatives by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, court interpretations of the statutory mandate of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, fracking technologies, the success of the wells and the price of oil and gas, among other things. We could see increased opposition and tougher oversight of oil and gas operations, which could reduce the demand for water for fracking and reduce our associated water sales as a result of the enactment of SB181, its implementing rules recently promulgated by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, or other future potential laws, regulations, or ballot initiatives regulating oil and gas development.

A significant portion of our water supplies come from non-renewable aquifers and inadequate water and wastewater supplies could have a material adverse effect on us. A significant portion of our water supplies comes from non-renewable Denver Basin aquifers. The State of Colorado regulates development and withdrawal of water from the Denver Basin aquifers to a rate of 1 percent of the aggregate amount of water determined to be in storage each year, which means our supply should last approximately 100 years even if no efforts were made to conserve or recharge the supply. Nonetheless, we may need to seek additional water supplies to prove our supply can last for 300 years as our non-renewable supplies are depleted. While the acquisition of Lost Creek water, a renewable “surface” water right that is diverted from an alluvial aquifer that is hydrologically connected to the surface water system, mitigates some of the risk of owning non-renewable supplies, if we are unable to obtain sufficient replacement supplies, it would have a material adverse impact on our business and financial condition. Additionally, the cost of developing and withdrawing water from the aquifers is expected to increase over time, and we may not be able to recover the increased costs through our rates and charges.

In many areas of Colorado, water supplies are limited, and in some cases, current usage rates exceed sustainable levels for certain water resources. We do not currently anticipate any short-term concerns with physical, legal, or continuous availability issues in our service areas. Insufficient availability of water or wastewater treatment capacity could materially and adversely affect our ability to provide for expected customer growth necessary to increase revenues. We continuously look for new sources of water to augment our reserves in our service areas, but our ability to obtain such rights may depend on factors beyond our control. As a result, it is possible that, in the future, we will not be able to obtain sufficient water or water supplies to increase customer growth necessary to increase or even maintain our revenues.

Increased costs to develop water from the aquifers could have a significant negative impact on our business, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition.

A failure of the water wells or distribution networks we own, or control could result in losses and damages that may affect our business and financial condition. We distribute water through a network of pipelines and store water in storage tanks and ponds. A failure of these pipelines, tanks or ponds could result in injuries and damage to property for which we may be responsible, in whole or in part. The failure of these pipelines, tanks, or ponds may also result in the need to shut down some facilities or parts of our water distribution network to conduct repairs. Such failures and shutdowns may limit our ability to supply water in sufficient quantities to our customers and to meet the water delivery requirements prescribed by our contracts, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, cash flows, and financial condition. Any business interruption or other losses might not be covered by insurance policies or be recoverable through rates and charges, and such losses may make it difficult for us to secure insurance in the future at acceptable rates.

Development on the Lowry Range is not within our control and is subject to obstacles. Development on the Lowry Range is controlled by the Land Board, which is governed by a five-person citizen board of commissioners representing education, agriculture, local government, and natural resources, plus one at-large commissioner, each appointed for a four-year term by the Colorado governor and approved by the Colorado Senate. The Land Board’s focus with respect to issues such as development and conservation on the Lowry Range tends to change as membership on the Land Board changes. In addition, there are often significant delays in the adoption and implementation of plans with respect to property administered by the Land Board because the process involves many constituencies with diverse interests. In the event water sales are not forthcoming or development of the Lowry Range is delayed or abandoned, we may need to use our capital resources, incur additional short or long-term debt obligations, or seek to sell additional equity. We may not have sufficient capital resources or be successful in obtaining additional operating capital.

Because of the prior use of the Lowry Range as a military facility, environmental clean-up may be required prior to development, including the removal of unexploded ordnance. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been conducting unexploded ordnance removal activities at the Lowry Range for more than 30 years. Continued activities are dependent on federal appropriations, and the Army Corps of Engineers has no assurance from year to year of such appropriations for its activities at the Lowry Range.

28

Table of Contents

We have limited experience with the development of real property. While we have extensive experience designing and constructing water and wastewater facilities and maintaining and operating these facilities, and we have nearly completed the initial development phase at Sky Ranch, we have limited experience developing real property. We may underestimate the capital expenditures required to complete the development of Sky Ranch, including the costs of certain infrastructure improvements and construction costs related to our new single-family home rental business. We have limited experience managing property development and construction activities, including the permitting and other approvals required, which may result in delays in completing Sky Ranch.

The funds we are advancing to the Sky Ranch CAB for construction of public improvements might not be repaid, which would negatively impact our income, gross margin on selling lots, and cash flows. We have advanced the Sky Ranch CAB over $31.6 million for construction of public improvements and expect to fund an additional estimated $14.4 million to complete the buildout of the first development phase and the first subphase of the second development. At August 31, 2021, $24.8 million has not been collected.  We expect these amounts will be reimbursable by the Sky Ranch CAB. No payment is required by the Sky Ranch CAB with respect to construction of public improvements unless and until the Sky Ranch CAB and/or the Sky Ranch Districts have generated sufficient funds from property taxes, fee, or the issuance of municipal bonds in an amount sufficient to reimburse the Company for all or a portion of advances provided or expenses incurred for reimbursables. The ability and obligation of the Sky Ranch CAB to reimburse us is dependent on sufficient home sales and commercial development occurring at Sky Ranch to create a tax base that would enable the Sky Ranch CAB to issue bonds to pay for the improvements. If development at Sky Ranch is delayed or curtailed for any reason, including regulatory restrictions, a downturn in the economy or default by one or more of the builders at Sky Ranch, the Sky Ranch CAB may not have sufficient revenues to issue bonds.

Supply shortages and risks related to the demand for skilled labor and building materials could increase costs and delay closings. The property development and home construction industries are highly competitive for skilled labor and materials. Labor shortages throughout the Unites States including the Colorado Front Range have become more acute in recent years as the supply chain adjusts to uneven industry growth. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated these shortages. Increased costs or shortages of skilled labor and/or concrete, steel, pipe, lumber, and other materials could cause increases in property development and home construction costs and delays, including in our single-family home rental business. We are unable to pass on increases in property development costs to home builders with whom we have already entered purchase and sale contracts for residential lots, at fixed prices, which were signed well in advance of development. Sustained increases in development and construction costs may, over time, erode our margins. Our ability to build new rental homes, even though we outsource the construction, may be adversely affected by circumstances beyond our control, including: work stoppages, labor disputes, and shortages of qualified trades people, such as carpenters, roofers, masons, electricians, and plumbers; changes in laws relating to union organizing activity; lack of availability of adequate utility or infrastructure and services; our need to rely on local subcontractors who may not be adequately capitalized or insured or may not, despite our quality control efforts, engage in proper construction practices or comply with applicable regulations; inadequacies in components purchased from building supply companies; and shortages delays in availability, or fluctuations in prices of building materials. Any of these circumstances could give rise to delays in the start or completion of, or could increase the cost of, constructing new rental homes.

​

We may purchase additional land parcels for development or other purposes, thereby exposing us to certain financial risks. In the future, we may purchase additional land parcels for development, construction, or other purposes. As noted above, land development and construction require significant cash expenditures before positive cash flows can be generated from the sale of lots, rental of homes, and water and sewer tap fees. If there is considerable lag time between when we acquire the land and when we begin selling finished lots or renting homes, we may generate significant operating losses. In addition, if sales of homes on the finished lots are delayed, renters can’t be found in a timely manner, our revenue from water and wastewater resource development services will be delayed. If our cash on hand and future cash flows from operations are not sufficient to fund our operations and the significant capital expenditure requirements to develop any acquired land, construct housing and build water and wastewater systems, we may be forced to seek to obtain additional debt or equity capital. There can be no assurance that financing will be available on acceptable terms or at all.

Delays in property development may extend the time it takes us to recover our property development costs and delay our revenue from water and wastewater resource development services. We incur many costs, such as the costs of preparing land, finishing and entitling lots, installing roads, sewers, water systems and other utilities, taxes and other costs related to ownership of the land and/or developing lots on behalf of builders who purchase the land, before we close on the sale of finished lots to home builders. If the rate at which we develop residential lots slows, we may incur additional costs, and it may take longer for us to recover our costs. In addition, if sales of homes on the finished lots are delayed, or we can’t find renters in a timely manner, our revenue from water and wastewater resource development services will be delayed. A significant downturn in the housing market could cause our builders to delay building homes on their lots until market conditions improve, and could result in us not renting our single-family rentals for rates that provide a

29

Table of Contents

sufficient return. Builders with contracts that do not require purchasing the lot until we deliver a finished, ready-to-build lot, could walk away from the contract prior to closing without consequence other than the forfeiture of their upfront deposits for the lot, utilities and other improvements. If a builder elected to walk away without cause, we would be entitled to keep these deposits as liquidated damages, but the deposits would not be sufficient to cover the expenses we expect to incur to finish the lots for delivery. We would not be able to recover our costs until we were able to sell the finished lots to another builder. If the original builder did not go through with the closing due to a poor housing market, we would likely have difficulty finding another buyer for the same reason. For our single-family rental homes, we incur the costs to construct the home, which we currently have funding in place to pay for construction, but there are no assurances that funding will remain in place for future growth. The costs of construction of the single-family rentals are anticipated to be paid for overtime by the rental income, but we may not be able to rent the homes for amounts sufficient to cover these costs.

Fluctuations in real property values may require us to write-down the book value of our land interests. The land development industry is subject to significant variability and fluctuations in real property values. As a result, we may be required to write-down the value of our Sky Ranch, single-family home rentals, or other land interests in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, and some of those write-downs could be material. Any material write-downs of assets could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, or results of operations. We assess our land interests when indicators of impairment exist. Indicators of impairment include a decrease in demand for housing due to soft market conditions; competitive pricing pressures that reduce the average sales price of finished lots; sales absorption rates below management expectations; a decrease in the value of homes or the underlying land due to general market conditions, actual or perceived risks due to proximity to oil and gas drilling operations, or other reasons; and a decrease in projected cash flows for a project.

Our land development segment may be subject to risks related to oil and gas operations in the vicinity of our Sky Ranch development, which could have an adverse impact on the marketability and/or value of our Sky Ranch property. We have leased the minerals underlying Sky Ranch to a major exploration and production company. Oil and gas extraction is an inherently dangerous activity that can potentially lead to air and water contamination, fire, explosion, or other hazards. While the State of Colorado, local governments, and private operators have regulations and procedures in place intended to mitigate these risks, there can be no assurances that these safeguards will be effective in all cases with respect to any oil and gas activity around Sky Ranch. The existence of oil and gas wells and drilling activity in or near our property and public concern regarding the negative health impacts from emissions near drilling and hydraulic fracturing sites, including those detailed in a 380-page report submitted to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment entitled the Final Report: Human Health Risk Assessment for Oil & Gas Operations in Colorado dated October 17, 2019, may adversely impact the marketability and/or value of the lots at Sky Ranch and decrease demand for homes in proximity to oil and gas operations, negatively impacting our land development segment, which could also negatively impact our business and financial condition.

Our single-family home development activities expose us to additional operational and real estate risks, which may adversely affect our financial condition and operating results. We have a significant development program that involves the construction of single-family homes to be used for rental purposes. We have no track record of building or maintaining homes for rent. Rental home construction can involve substantial up-front costs to build before a home is available for rent and generates income. In addition to the up-front costs, building rental homes involves potentially significant new risks to our business, such as delays or cost increases due to changes in or failure to meet regulatory requirements, including permitting and zoning regulations, failure of lease rentals on newly-constructed properties to achieve anticipated investment returns, inclement weather, adverse site selection, unforeseen site conditions, construction materials and labor and other risks described below. We may be unable to achieve our objective of building new rental homes that generate acceptable returns and, as a result, our growth and results of operations may be adversely impacted.

​

We will depend on our tenants for all of our rental home revenues. Poor tenant selection and defaults and nonrenewals by our tenants may adversely affect our reputation, and financial performance. We are dependent on rental income from tenants for all of our rental home revenues. As a result, the success of this division depends in large part upon our ability to attract and retain qualified tenants for our properties. Our reputation and financial performance would be adversely affected if a significant number of our tenants fail to meet their lease obligations or fail to renew their leases. For example, tenants may default on rent payments, make unreasonable and repeated demands for service or improvements, make unsupported or unjustified complaints to regulatory or political authorities, use our properties for illegal purposes, damage or make unauthorized structural changes to our properties that are not covered by security deposits, refuse to leave the property upon termination of the lease, engage in domestic violence or similar disturbances, disturb nearby residents with noise, trash, odors or eyesores, fail to comply with the Sky Ranch CAB regulations, sublet to less desirable individuals in violation of our lease or permit unauthorized persons to live with them. Damage to our properties may delay re-leasing after eviction, necessitate expensive repairs or impair the rental income or value of the property resulting in a lower than expected rate of return.

30

Table of Contents

Increases in unemployment levels and other adverse changes in the economic conditions in our market could result in substantial tenant defaults.

​

Our planned lease terms could require us to re-lease our properties frequently, which we may be unable to do on attractive terms, on a timely basis or at all. We anticipate substantially all of our leases having a duration of one year. As these leases will permit tenants to leave at the end of the lease term without penalty, we anticipate our rental revenues may be affected by declines in market rents more quickly than if our leases were for longer terms. Annual leases may result in high turnover, which involves costs such as restoring the properties, marketing costs and lower occupancy levels. Our tenant turnover rate and related cost estimates may be less accurate than if we had more operating data upon which to base such estimates. Moreover, we cannot assure you that our leases will be renewed on equal or better terms or at all. If our tenants do not renew their leases or the rental rates for our properties decrease, our operating results and ability to make distributions to our shareholders could be adversely affected.

​

Tenant relief laws, including laws restricting evictions and other regulations could limit our ability to evict bad tenants which may negatively impact our rental income and profitability. Landlords of numerous properties tend to be involved in evicting tenants who are not paying their rent or are otherwise in material violation of the terms of their lease. Eviction activities impose legal and managerial expenses that would raise our costs. The eviction process is typically subject to legal barriers, mandatory “cure” policies and other sources of expense and delay, each of which may delay our ability to gain possession and stabilize the property. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been increases in restrictions and other regulations on evictions and rent increases and we believe these increases could continue given the ongoing effects of the pandemic, economic challenges nationally and increasing political support for these types of regulations.

​

It would be difficult for us to quickly generate cash from sales of our properties. Real estate investments, particularly large portfolios of properties, are relatively illiquid. If we had a sudden need for significant cash, it would be difficult for us to fund such need quickly through a sale of our rental properties.

​

Products supplied to us and work done by subcontractors can expose us to risks that could adversely affect our business. We rely on subcontractors to perform the actual property development, including the construction of our single-family rental homes, and in many cases, to select and obtain concrete, asphalt, and other materials. Subcontractors may use improper construction processes or defective materials. Defective products can result in the need to perform extensive repairs. The cost of complying with our warranty obligations may be significant if we are unable to recover the cost of repairs from subcontractors, materials suppliers and insurers.

Risks Related to Legal, Regulatory, and Environmental, Health and Safety Matters

Government regulations and legal challenges may delay the closing of the sale of our residential lots, increase our expenses or limit other activities, which could have a negative impact on our results of operations. The approval of numerous governmental authorities must be obtained in connection with both our water and wastewater projects and our land development activities, and these governmental authorities often have broad discretion in exercising their approval authority. We incur substantial costs related to compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. Any increase in legal and regulatory requirements may cause us to incur substantial additional costs. Various local, state and federal statutes, ordinances, rules and regulations concerning health and safety, site and building design, environmental, zoning, and similar matters apply to and/or affect the construction and operation of our water and wastewater systems and our land development activities. For example, as detailed further below, state regulations recently enacted by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission implementing Senate Bill 19-181 (“SB 19-181”) impose minimum distances between residences and new oil and gas drilling operations. SB 19-181 also empowers local governments to enact regulations that are stricter than state requirements pertaining to the surface impacts of oil and gas operations.  As such, local zoning or other regulations may seek to create stricter setbacks from oil and gas drilling operations or impose other restrictions on the use of land. Furthermore, construction and funding of a new interchange on I-70 may delay the issuance of permits beyond the first subphase of our second development filing. As these state setback regulations are implemented, and to the extent that these regulations are enacted, the value of the land that we already own or the availability of land that we are looking to acquire may decline, either of which may adversely impact the financial position, results of operations and cash flows of our business. In addition, our ability to obtain or renew permits or approvals and the continued effectiveness of permits already granted or approvals already obtained depends on factors beyond our control, such as changes in federal, state and local policies, rules and regulations and their interpretations and application. Furthermore, we are subject to various fees and charges of government authorities designed to defray the cost of providing certain governmental services and improvements. For example, local and state governments have broad discretion regarding the imposition of development fees for projects under their

31

Table of Contents

jurisdictions, as well as requiring concessions or that the property developer and/or home builder construct certain improvements to public places such as parks and streets or fund schools.

Municipalities or state water agencies may restrict or place moratoriums on the availability of utilities, such as water and sewer taps, which could have an adverse effect on our business by causing delays or increasing our costs.

We must provide water that meets all federal and state regulatory water quality standards and operate our water and wastewater facilities in accordance with these standards. Future changes in regulations governing the supply of drinking water and treatment of wastewater may have a material adverse impact on our financial results. For example, on October 18, 2021, the Biden Administration announced a multi-agency, three year strategy to begin addressing per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”), known colloquially as “forever chemicals.” The plan includes, among other things, having the EPA set timelines for drinking water limits of PFAS under the Safe Drinking Water Act, designate two of the substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Reponses Compensation and Liability Act, and set timelines for data collection and rulemakings for nine industrial categories, and review past PFAS actions taken under the Toxic Substances Control Act. These new regulatory initiatives addressing PFAS in drinking water could impact the water side of our business.

With respect to service of customers on the Lowry Range, the Rangeview District’s rates might not be sufficient to cover the cost of compliance with additional or more stringent requirements, or we may be required to reserve more water than necessary for use on the Lowry Range to ensure the proper level of service to Lowry Range customers. If the cost of compliance were to increase, we anticipate that the rates of the nearby water providers that the Rangeview District uses to establish its rates and charges would increase to reflect these cost increases, thereby allowing the Rangeview District to increase its rates and charges. However, these water providers may not raise their rates in an amount that would be sufficient to enable the Rangeview District (and us) to cover any increased compliance costs.

Changes in other environmental laws may also affect, for example, how we manage storm water runoff, wastewater discharges and dust; how we develop or operate on properties on or affecting resources such as wetlands, endangered species, cultural resources, or areas subject to preservation laws; and how we address contamination.

Government agencies may initiate audits, reviews, or investigations of our business practices to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations, which can cause us to incur costs or create other disruptions in our business that can be significant. Further, we may experience delays and increased expenses because of legal challenges to our proposed development activities, whether brought by governmental authorities or private parties. In addition, tariffs imposed by the United States on imported steel could increase our property development costs. It is possible that new standards could be imposed that will require additional capital expenditures or raise our operating costs. With respect to service of customers on the Lowry Range, the Rangeview District’s rates might not be sufficient to cover the cost of compliance with new requirements. Although we would expect the rates of the nearby water providers that the Rangeview District uses to establish its rates and charges to increase to cover increased compliance costs, such rates may not cover all our costs and our costs of complying with new standards or laws could adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition. Our noncompliance with environmental laws could result in fines and penalties, obligations to remediate, permit revocations and other sanctions.

Laws and Regulations Related to Climate Change, Greenhouse Gases, and Energy may adversely affect us by directly and indirectly increasing the cost of, or restricting our planned future growth activities. There is a variety of legislation being enacted, or considered for enactment, at the federal, state, and local level relating to energy and climate change. This legislation relates to items such as carbon dioxide emissions control and building codes that impose energy efficiency standards. 2019 was a prolific year for adopting state climate and energy legislation in Colorado, and the state has been adopting regulations, plans, and policies to implement that legislation in 2020 and 2021. For example, in 2019, Colorado passed HB 19-1261, setting a goal to reduce statewide greenhouse gas emissions by 26% by 2025, 50% by 2030, and 90% by 2050, and in 2021 the Colorado Governor release the Colorado Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Roadmap, which identifies strategies state agencies can and should take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from a variety of sources, including buildings, transportation, and oil and gas mining and production. Colorado also adopted SB 19-096 in 2019, which requires the Air Quality Control Commission collect and report on greenhouse gas emissions data from certain entities. The ACQQ adopted Air Regulation Number 22 pursuant to SB 19-096 in May 2020, requiring certain categories of emitters, including industrial wastewater treatment facilities, to report GHG emissions to the state. Colorado also adopted two energy efficiency statutes in 2019: HB 19-1231 updates energy and water efficiency standards for certain new appliance and plumbing fixtures; and HB 19-1260 requires local jurisdictions to adopt certain minimum building codes when updating their building codes. HB 19-1231 and future local building code changes pursuant to HB 19-1260 could affect our future housing development costs. Likewise, the cost of maintaining our multifamily

32

Table of Contents

housing developments may be impacted by the implementation of 2021 Colorado law HB 21-1286, which requires owners of large (50,000 square feet or more) commercial, multifamily, and public buildings to annually report energy usage starting by December 1, 2022. As climate change concerns continue to grow, enactment of additional climate and energy legislation and regulations at the state, local, and federal levels may continue, and compliance with legislation and regulations of this nature is expected to become more costly.

In addition to the direct impacts of climate and energy-related policies, there may also be indirect impacts. Energy-related initiatives affect a wide variety of companies throughout the United States and the world and, because our operations are dependent on significant amounts of raw materials, such as pipe, steel and concrete, they could have an indirect adverse impact on our operations and profitability to the extent the manufacturers and suppliers of the materials used in the development of our properties are burdened with expensive tariffs, cap and trade and similar taxes and regulations.

Our construction of water and wastewater projects and improvements at Sky Ranch may expose us to certain completion, performance, and financial risks. We rely on independent contractors to construct our water and wastewater facilities and Sky Ranch lot improvements. These construction activities involve risks, including shortages of materials and labor, work stoppages, labor relations disputes, injuries to third parties, damages to property, weather interference, engineering, environmental, permitting, or geological problems and unanticipated cost increases. These issues could give rise to delays, cost overruns or performance deficiencies, or otherwise adversely affect the construction or operation of our water and wastewater delivery systems and the construction and delivery of residential lots. In addition, we may experience quality problems in the construction of our systems and facilities, including equipment failures. We may not meet the required deadlines under our sale and construction contracts. We may face claims from customers or others regarding product quality and installation of equipment placed in service by contractors.

The sales contracts at Sky Ranch and contracts for the water and wastewater facilities that we design and construct are fixed-price contracts, in which we bear all or a significant portion of the risk for cost overruns. Under these fixed-price contracts, contract prices are established in part based on fixed, firm subcontractor quotes on contracts and on cost and scheduling estimates. These quotes or estimates may be based on several assumptions, including assumptions about prices and availability of labor, equipment and materials, and other issues. If these subcontractor quotations or cost estimates prove inaccurate, or if circumstances change, cost overruns may occur, and our financial results would be negatively impacted. In many cases, the incurrence of these additional costs would not be within our control.

Pursuant to various contracts related to the development of Sky Ranch, we guarantee that the project, when completed, will achieve certain performance standards, meet certain quality specifications, and satisfy certain requirements for governmental approvals. If we fail to complete the project as scheduled, meet guaranteed performance standards or quality specifications, or obtain the required governmental approvals, we may be held responsible for cost impacts and/or penalties to the customer resulting from any delay or for the costs to alter the project to achieve the performance standards and the quality specifications and to obtain the required government approvals. To the extent that these events occur and are not due to circumstances for which the customer accepts responsibility or cannot be mitigated by performance bonds or the provisions of our agreements with contractors, the total costs of the project would exceed our original estimates and our financial results would be negatively impacted.

We are required to secure, or to have our subcontractors secure, performance and completion bonds for certain contracts and projects. The market environment for surety companies has become increasingly risk averse. We and our subcontractors secure performance and completion bonds for our contracts from these surety companies. To the extent we or our subcontractors are unable to obtain bonds, we may breach existing agreements and/or not be awarded new contracts. We may not be able to secure performance and completion bonds when required.

The enactment and implementation of SB 19-181 is increasing state and local regulatory restrictions on oil and gas development, which could have an adverse effect on our water sales to the oil and gas industry for hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) and demand for new homes at Sky Ranch. SB 19-181 was signed into law on April 16, 2019. Among other things, SB 19-181 authorizes local governments to approve the siting of oil and gas locations and regulate the surface impacts of oil and natural gas development, including empowering local governments to adopt requirements that are more stringent than state requirements. SB 19-181 also changes the mission of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission from fostering responsible and balanced development to regulating the development and production of natural resources and oil and gas to “protect” and “minimize” “adverse impacts to public health, safety, and welfare, including protection of the environment and wildlife resources. SB 19-181 also requires the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and the Air Quality Control Commission to undertake rulemaking on numerous issues, including environmental protection, facility siting, increased inspections and public disclosures, elimination of hard caps on application fees,

33

Table of Contents

increasing required financial assurances, and minimizing emissions of hydrocarbons and other compounds. Throughout 2019 and 2020, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and the Air Quality Control Commission have promulgated several rules pursuant to SB 19-181, as detailed below.

Rulemaking activities by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission pursuant to SB 19-181 could adversely impact on our land development activities by limiting the number of lots available for land development in Colorado, and could adversely impact our water sales for fracking by limiting the land available for oil and gas production. In November 2020, as a part of implementing SB 19-181, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission approved rules (“Setback Rule”) imposing setbacks and siting requirements for well locations. Specifically, the Setback Rule prohibits, without exception, prohibits working well pad surfaces from being located within 2,000 feet of a School Facility or Child Care Center, or within 500 feet from one or more residential buildings that not subject to a surface use agreement or waiver. The Setback Rule also generally prohibits any well pad surface from being located greater than 500 feet and less than 2,000 feet from a residential or high occupancy building, but allows such locations to obtain an exemption from the Commission by satisfying certain requirements in the rule (such as consent from owners and tenants) or to seek a ruling from the Commission, after a hearing, finding that the conditions of approval will provide “substantially equivalent protections” to a 2,000 foot setback for public health, safety, welfare, the environment, wildlife resources, and disproportionately impacted communities. The Setback Rule went into effect on January 15, 2021.

Depending on how the Setback Rules is applied and interpreted, it could have the effect of limiting property development within 2,000 feet of a well pad surface. As noted above, in order for landowners to allow oil and gas development on or near their property, the applicant will need to show explicit, informed consent from both the landowner and their tenants (as applicable) to the proposed oil and gas location, or otherwise demonstrate to the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission that conditions on approval will provide “substantially equivalent protections” to a 2,000 foot setback. This will be a roadblock for landowners who are unable to get the consent of their tenants and are unable to demonstrate that conditions on the location approval would provide “substantially equivalent protections.” In such cases, landowners could be forced to choose between limiting oil and gas development on their property to maximize the land available for residential and commercial development or to limit land development to maximize revenue from oil and gas development. Under a restrictive interpretation of such rules, we might have to limit drilling on our mineral rights at Sky Ranch in order to proceed with the occupancy densities we have planned, which would adversely affect our industrial water sales to the oil and gas industry. Restrictive rules could also reduce the supply of other land acquisition opportunities for development or it could make such residential land development/acquisitions/sales more attractive to people who don’t want to live near O&G development. Additionally, any rules that would require the Land Board to elect between oil and gas or land development with respect to the Lowry Range would likely have an adverse effect on our financial condition, because we have the exclusive right to provide water service to customers on the Lowry Range, including both lessees of the oil and gas rights on the Lowry Range and future occupants of the Lowry Range if the Land Board sells the land for development.

In addition to the Setback Rule, state agencies have adopted other regulations implementing SB 19-181. The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission adopted rules for testing and ensuring the integrity of oil and gas flow lines and well bores in November 2019 and June 2020, pursuant to SB 19-181. In addition, the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission approved rules in December 2019 calling for more frequent inspections of oil and gas equipment. These and related rulemaking activities by state agencies and local governments could lead to delays and additional costs for oil and gas operators, which, in turn, could result in a decline in oil and gas drilling activities. A significant decline in oil and gas drilling activities in and around the Lowry Range and our Sky Ranch property would have an adverse effect on our water sales for fracking and our financial condition. Further, a significant decline in oil and gas activities throughout Colorado could negatively impact the Colorado economy, which could have an adverse effect on demand for new homes at Sky Ranch.

Ballot Initiatives at the State or Local Level Could Restrict Oil and Gas and Land Development. In the past few years, interest groups in Colorado opposed to oil and natural gas development generally, and hydraulic fracturing in particular, have advanced—albeit unsuccessfully— ballot initiatives that would significantly curtail oil and natural gas development in the state. For example, in 2018, Proposition 112 would have imposed a 2,500 foot setback from any building or waterway in Colorado. Although but 57% of Colorado voters rejected that measure in 2018, the influential power of even failed ballot initiatives is demonstrated by the fact that the Colorado Legislature and Governor passed SB 19-181 the following year and, pursuant to that law, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has now promulgated the similar, though less restrictive Setback Rule described above. Interest groups opposed to oil and natural gas development have continued to seek restrictions through a variety of means.

34

Table of Contents

We may be subject to significant potential liabilities because of warranty and liability claims made against us. Design, construction, or system failures related to our water and wastewater delivery systems could result in injury to third parties or damage to property. In addition, as a property developer, we are subject in the ordinary course of our business to warranty claims. We are also subject to claims for losses or injuries that occur during our property development activities. We plan to record warranty and other reserves for the residential lots we sell based on historical trends in our market and our judgment of the qualitative risks associated with the type of lots we sell. We have, and many of our subcontractors have, general liability, property, workers’ compensation, and other business insurance. These insurance policies are intended to protect us against a portion of our risk of loss from claims, subject to certain self-insured retentions, deductibles, and coverage limits. However, it is possible that this insurance will not be adequate to address all warranty and liability claims to which we are subject. Additionally, the coverage offered and the availability of general liability insurance for construction defects are currently limited and policies that can be obtained are costly and often include exclusions based upon past losses insurers suffered as a result of use of defective materials used by other property developers. As a result, our subcontractors may be unable to obtain insurance, and we may have to waive our customary insurance requirements, which increases our and our insurers’ exposure to claims and increases the possibility that our insurance will not be adequate to protect us for all the costs we incur. Any losses that exceed claims against our contractors, the performance bonds and our insurance limits at such facilities could result in claims against us. In addition, if there is a customer dispute regarding performance of our services, the customer may decide to delay or withhold payment to us. No warranty and liability claims have been made against us as of the date of this report.

A major health and safety incident relating to our business could be costly in terms of potential liabilities and reputational damage. Water facility and land development construction sites are inherently dangerous and pose certain inherent health and safety risks to construction workers and other persons on the site. Any failure in health and safety performance may result in penalties for non-compliance with relevant regulatory requirements, and a failure that results in a major or significant health and safety incident is likely to be costly in terms of potential liabilities incurred as a result. Such a failure could generate significant negative publicity and have a corresponding impact on our reputation, our relationships with relevant regulatory agencies or governmental authorities, and our ability to attract customers and employees, which in turn could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.

Conflicts of interest may arise relating to the operation of the Rangeview District, the Sky Ranch Districts and the Sky Ranch CAB. Our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and two of our employees constitute the majority of the directors of each of the Rangeview District, the Sky Ranch Districts and the Sky Ranch CAB. These officers and employees, along with Pure Cycle, and one unrelated individual, own certain property interests in the 40 acres that constitute the Rangeview District and the acreage that constitutes the Sky Ranch Districts. We have made loans to the Rangeview District to fund its operations. As of August 31, 2021, total principal and interest owed to us by the Rangeview District was just over $1.0 million. Pursuant to our water and wastewater service agreements with the Rangeview District, the Rangeview District retains two percent of the revenues from the sale of water to its end-use customers and 10% of the revenues from the provision of wastewater services to its end-use customers. Proceeds from the fee collections will initially be used to repay the Rangeview District’s obligations to us, but after these loans are repaid, the Rangeview District is not required to use the funds to benefit Pure Cycle.

Similarly, we have made loans to and incurred expenses reimbursable by the Sky Ranch Districts and the Sky Ranch CAB. As of August 31, 2021, the Sky Ranch CAB owes us $24.8 million related to construction of public improvements on the Sky Ranch property, including interest on these amounts. The Sky Ranch CAB is not required to repay us for advances made or expenses incurred for improvements at Sky Ranch unless and until the Sky Ranch CAB and/or Sky Ranch Districts generate sufficient cash flows from either property taxes, fees or from the issuance of bonds in an amount sufficient to reimburse us for all or a portion of advances made or expenses incurred. We have received benefits from our activities undertaken in conjunction with the Rangeview and Sky Ranch Districts and the Sky Ranch CAB, but conflicts may arise between our interests and those of the Rangeview and Sky Ranch Districts and the Sky Ranch CAB and our officers and employees who are acting in dual capacities in negotiating contracts to which we and a district and/or the Sky Ranch CAB are parties. We expect that the Rangeview and Sky Ranch Districts will expand when more properties are developed and become part of the respective districts, and our officers and employees acting as directors of these districts will have fiduciary obligations to those other constituents. Conflicts may not be resolved in the best interests of the Company and our shareholders. In addition, other landowners coming into a district will be eligible to vote and to serve as directors of these districts. Our officers and employees may not remain as directors of these districts, and the actions of subsequently elected boards could have an adverse impact on our operations.

Growth limitations or moratoriums imposed by governmental authorities could adversely affect our land development activities or the land development activities of our customers, which could adversely impact both the land development and water and wastewater

35

Table of Contents

segments of our business. The State of Colorado or counties in which our service areas and properties are located may approve limitations or moratoriums on residential growth within their respective boundaries, which limitations or moratoriums could have the effect of delaying, limiting or halting development within Sky Ranch or other areas where we may provide water and wastewater services or develop land. We are not aware of any such proposals in the areas in which we operate, but proposals have been made to limit growth in various communities along the Front Range. Because all of the property in Sky Ranch has been platted, we do not expect future growth moratoriums to restrict Sky Ranch as currently planned; however, if growth moratoriums or restrictions are imposed in the areas in which we provide services or develop land, it could negatively impact our ability to develop our land as planned or our customers’ ability to grow their communities as anticipated, which would also reduce the number of water and wastewater service customers we expect, which would have a negative impact on our business and financial condition.

We could be hurt by efforts to impose liabilities or obligations on us regarding labor law violations by other persons whose employees perform contracted services. The infrastructure and improvements on our water and wastewater systems and on the finished lots we sell or that we must provide pursuant to service agreements and lot development agreements are done by employees of subcontractors and other contract parties. We do not have the ability to control what these contract parties pay their employees or the work rules they impose on their employees. However, there have been efforts by government agencies including the National Labor Relations Board and the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment to hold contract parties like us responsible for violations of wage and hour laws and other work-related laws by firms whose employees are performing contracted-for services. Governmental rulings that make us responsible for labor practices by our subcontractors could create substantial exposures for us in situations that are not within our control.

​

Contamination to our water supply may result in disruption in our services and litigation, which could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition. Our water supplies are subject to the risk of potential contamination, including contamination from naturally occurring compounds, pollution from man-made sources and intentional sabotage. Our land at Sky Ranch and a portion of the Lowry Range have been leased for oil and gas exploration and development. Such exploration and development could expose us to additional contamination risks from related leaks or spills. In addition, we handle certain hazardous materials at our water treatment facilities, primarily sodium hypochlorite. Any failure of our operation of the facilities or any contamination of our supplies, including sewage spills, noncompliance with water quality standards, hazardous materials leaks and spills, and similar events, could expose us to environmental liabilities, claims and litigation costs. If any of these events occur, we may have to interrupt the use of that water supply until we are able to substitute the supply from another source or treat the contaminated supply. We cannot assure you that we will successfully manage these issues, and failure to do so could have a material adverse effect on our future results of operations.

We may incur significant costs in order to treat the contaminated source through expansion of our current treatment facilities or development of new treatment methods. If we are unable to substitute water supply from an uncontaminated water source, or to adequately treat the contaminated water source in a cost-effective manner, there may be an adverse effect on our revenues, operating results and financial condition. The costs we incur to decontaminate a water source or an underground water system could be significant and could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition and may not be recoverable in rates.

We could also be held liable for consequences arising out of human exposure to hazardous substances in our water supplies or other environmental damage. For example, private plaintiffs could assert personal injury or other toxic tort claims arising from the presence of hazardous substances in our drinking water supplies. Although we have not been a party to any environmental or pollution-related lawsuits, such lawsuits have increased in frequency in recent years. If we are subject to an environmental or pollution-related lawsuit, we might incur significant legal costs, and it is uncertain whether we would be able to recover the legal costs from ratepayers or other third parties. Our insurance policies may not cover or provide sufficient coverage for the losses associated with or the costs of these claims.

We may be adversely affected by any future decision by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to regulate us as a public utility. The Colorado Public Utilities Commission (“CPUC”) regulates investor-owned water companies operating for the purpose of supplying water to the public. The CPUC regulates many aspects of public utilities’ operations, including establishing water rates and fees, initiating inspections, enforcement and compliance activities and assisting consumers with complaints. We do not believe that we are a public utility under Colorado law. We currently provide services by contract mainly to the Rangeview District, which supplies the public. Quasi-municipal metropolitan districts, such as the Rangeview District and the Sky Ranch Districts, are exempt by statute from regulation by the CPUC. However, the CPUC could attempt to regulate us as a public utility. If this were to occur, we might incur significant expense challenging the CPUC’s assertion of jurisdiction, and we may be unsuccessful. In the future, existing regulations may be revised or reinterpreted, and new laws and regulations may be adopted or become applicable to us or our facilities. If we become

36

Table of Contents

regulated as a public utility, our ability to generate profits could be limited, and we might incur significant costs associated with regulatory compliance.

The Rangeview District’s and our rights under the Lease have been challenged by third parties. The Rangeview District’s and our rights under the Lease have been challenged by third parties, including the Land Board, in the past. In 2014, in connection with settling a lawsuit filed by us and the Rangeview District against the Land Board, the Land Board, the Rangeview District and we amended and restated the Lease to clarify and update a number of provisions. However, there are issues still subject to disagreement and negotiation, including our rights with respect to revenue from our Export Water after 2081, and it is likely that during the remaining term (through 2081) of the Lease, the parties will disagree over interpretations of provisions in the Lease again. The Rangeview District’s or our rights under the Lease could be challenged in the future, which could require potentially expensive litigation to enforce our rights.

Our Lowry Range surface water rights are “conditional decrees” and require findings of reasonable diligence. Our surface water interests and reservoir sites at the Lowry Range are conditionally decreed and are subject to a finding of reasonable diligence from the Colorado water court every six years. To arrive at a finding of reasonable diligence, the water court must determine that we continue to diligently pursue the development of said water rights. If the water court is unable to make such a finding, we could lose the water right under review. During each of fiscal 2012 and 2018, the Lowry Range conditional decrees were granted review by the water court, which determined that we and the Rangeview District met the diligence criteria. The water court entered a finding of reasonable diligence on the Lowry Range surface water decrees in January 2019. Our next review for reasonable diligence on the Lowry Range surface water decrees will be in January 2025. We believe that we will be successful in maintaining our decrees as we continue to develop these rights. If the water court does not make a determination of reasonable diligence, the value of our interests in the Rangeview Water Supply would be materially adversely impacted.

Our operations are affected by local politics and governmental procedures that are beyond our control. We operate in a highly political environment. We market our water rights to municipalities and other governmental entities run by elected or politically appointed officials. Our principal competitors are municipalities seeking to expand their sales tax base and other water districts. Various constituencies, including our competitors, developers, environmental groups, conservation groups, and agricultural interests, have competing agendas with respect to the development of water rights in Colorado, which means that decisions affecting our business are based on many factors other than economic and business considerations. Additional risks associated with dealing with governmental entities include turnover of elected and appointed officials, changes in policies from election to election, and a lack of institutional history in these entities concerning their prior courses of dealing with the Company. We spend significant time and resources educating elected officials, local authorities and others regarding our water rights and the benefits of contracting with us. Political concerns and governmental procedures and policies may hinder or delay our ability to enter into service agreements or develop our water rights or infrastructure to deliver our water. While we have worked to reduce the political risks in our business through our participation as the service provider for the Rangeview District in regional cooperative resource programs, such as the SMWSA and the WISE partnership with Denver Water and Aurora Water, as well as education and communication efforts and community involvement, our efforts may be unsuccessful.

The number of connections we can serve are affected by local governmental policies that are beyond our control. We market our water rights through service agreements to developers, municipalities and other governmental entities run by elected or politically appointed officials. We believe that our water rights can serve approximately 60,000 single family connections based on standards applied to water providers in Arapahoe, Douglas, and Adams Counties. These standards are policy driven, based on assumed life and reliability of water supplies and may become more restrictive at the discretion of the governmental entity. If these standards become more restrictive, our water supplies may not serve the number of connections that we currently estimate we can serve.

General Risks

We are dependent on the services of a key employee. Our success largely depends on the continuing services of our President and Chief Executive Officer, Mark W. Harding. We believe Mr. Harding possesses valuable knowledge, experience and leadership abilities that would be difficult in the short term to replace. Mr. Harding also serves on the boards of the Rangeview District, the Sky Ranch Districts, and the Sky Ranch CAB. The loss of Mr. Harding as a key employee and as a director of these boards would cause a significant interruption of our operations.

Our stock price has been volatile in the past and may decline in the future. Our common stock has experienced significant price and volume fluctuations in the past and may experience significant fluctuations in the future depending upon several factors, some of which

37

Table of Contents

are beyond our control. Factors that could affect our stock price and trading volume include, among others, the perceived prospects of our business; differences between anticipated and actual operating results; changes in analysts’ recommendations or projections; the commencement and/or results of litigation and other legal proceedings; and future sales of our common stock by us or by significant shareholders, officers and directors. In addition, stock markets in general have experienced price and volume volatility from time to time, which may adversely affect the market price of our common stock for reasons unrelated to our performance.

Unauthorized access to confidential information and data on our information technology systems and security and data breaches could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and operating results. We rely on computer and information technology systems to conduct our business and communicate with our suppliers and other third parties. Our systems require continued and unimpeded access to secure network connections. We have physical, technical and procedural safeguards in place that are designed to protect information and protect against security and data breaches as well as fraudulent transactions and other activities. Despite these safeguards and our other security processes and protections, we cannot be assured that all of our systems and processes are free from vulnerability to security breaches. Cyberattacks are evolving and becoming increasingly sophisticated. Cyberattacks may take various forms, including through hacking, Ransomware attacks, malware, viruses and phishing scams.

In July 2021, we experienced a ransomware attack that impacted our operational and information technology systems, which resulted in our systems being down while we implemented recovery controls of our data. We did not experience a material loss of information and concluded that no customer or financial data was compromised. In addition, our water and wastewater operating systems were not impacted. As a result of the attack, we incurred an immaterial amount of expenses to increase our security including additional infrastructure investments, and remediation efforts.

A significant data security breach, including misappropriation of customer, supplier or employee confidential information, could cause us to incur significant costs, which may include potential costs of investigations, legal, forensic and consulting fees and expenses, costs and diversion of management attention required for investigation, remediation and litigation, substantial repair or replacement costs. We could also experience data losses that would impair our ability to manage our business operations, including accounting and project costs, manage our water and wastewater systems or process transactions and have a negative impact on our reputation and loss of confidence of our customers, suppliers and others, any of which could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, operating results and reputation.

Failure to maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting could result in material misstatements in our financial statements and affect our ability to meet our reporting requirements. Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over our financial reporting, as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the Company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. As disclosed in Item 9A – Controls and Procedures, during fiscal 2021, we concluded that a material weakness existed in our internal controls resulting from ineffective procedures related to the preparation and review of spreadsheets, which compromised the integrity of the spreadsheets used to support and record transactions related to tracking the public improvement reimbursable amounts and related interest income. To address this material weakness, management has devoted, and plans to continue to devote, significant effort and resources to the remediation and improvement of its internal control over financial reporting by implementing additional steps in the review process of various complex schedules that support accounting entries on a monthly and quarterly basis or moving these manual tracking and reconciliation processes to a more automated software system.

Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reasonable assurance with respect to our financial reports and to effectively prevent fraud. Internal controls over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements because of inherent limitations, including the possibility of human error, the circumvention or overriding of controls, or fraud. Therefore, even effective internal controls can provide only reasonable assurance with respect to the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements. If we cannot provide reasonable assurance with respect to our financial reports and effectively prevent fraud, our operating results could be misreported. In addition, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting to future periods are subject to the risk that the control may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. If we fail to maintain the effectiveness of our internal controls, including any failure to implement required new or improved controls, or if we experience difficulties in their implementation, our business and operating results could be harmed, we could fail to meet our reporting obligations, and there could be a material adverse effect on our share price.

38

Table of Contents

Conflicts, terrorist attacks, public health crises, including the occurrence of a contagious disease or illness, such as the COVID-19 coronavirus and general instability could adversely affect our business. We are vulnerable to the effects of conflicts, terrorist attacks and public health crises. As has been the case with the COVID-19 pandemic, such effects have precipitated economic instability and turmoil in financial markets. The uncertainty and economic disruption resulting from hostilities, acts of terrorism or public health crises may impact any or all of our operations or those of our suppliers or customers. Accordingly, any conflict, terrorist attack or public health crisis that impacts us or any of our suppliers or customers, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

​

Item 1B – Unresolved Staff Comments

None.

​

Item 2 – Properties

Water Related Assets

In addition to the water rights and adjudicated reservoir sites that are described in Item 1 – Our Water and Land Assets, we own or have exclusive rights to use, through the Rangeview District a 1.0 million-gallon and two 500,000-gallon treated water storage tanks, three storage reservoirs that can store 1.7 million barrels of water (71.4 million gallons), five deep water wells, three alluvial wells, three pump stations, over 50 miles of water transmission and distribution lines, and more than 20 miles of wastewater collection pipelines in Arapahoe County, Colorado. In conjunction with Wild Pointe, and the Elbert 86 District, we have exclusive rights to use, operate and maintain two water tanks with a combined capacity of 438,000 gallons, two deep water wells, a pump station, and ten miles of transmission lines serving customers at Wild Pointe in Elbert County. These assets are used to provide service to our customers.

Land and Mineral Interests

We own approximately 715 acres of land remaining at our Sky Ranch Master Planned Community as well as approximately 634 net mineral acres at Sky Ranch. We own 40 acres of land that comprise the current boundaries of the Rangeview District (together with all the minerals). We also own approximately 700 acres of land in the Arkansas River Valley, and we hold 13,900 acres of mineral interests in the Arkansas River Valley in Southeast Colorado in Otero, Bent and Prowers Counties.

​

Item 3 – Legal Proceedings

None.

​

Item 4 – Mine Safety Disclosures

Not Applicable

​

PART II

Item 5 – Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Market Information

Our common stock is traded on The NASDAQ Stock Market under the symbol “PCYO.”

Holders

On November 3, 2021, there were 804 holders of record of our common stock.

39

Table of Contents

Dividends

We have never paid any dividends on our common stock and expect for the foreseeable future to retain all of our capital and earnings from operations, if any, for use in expanding and developing our water and land development businesses. Any future decision as to the payment of dividends will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon our earnings, financial position, capital requirements, plans for expansion and such other factors as our board of directors deems relevant. The terms of our Series B Preferred Stock prohibit payment of dividends on common stock unless all dividends accrued on the Series B Preferred Stock have been paid and require dividends to be paid on the Series B Preferred Stock if proceeds from the sale of Export Water exceed $36,026,232. No dividends have been accrued to date as this threshold has not been met. For further discussion, see Note 8 – Shareholders’ Equity to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities; Use of Proceeds from Registered Securities

None.

Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers

None.

​

40

Table of Contents

Item 6 – Selected Financial Data

Not Applicable

​

Item 7 – Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

Overview

The discussion and analysis below includes certain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, as described in “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, that could cause our actual growth, results of operations, performance, financial position and business prospects and opportunities for this fiscal year and the periods that follow to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, those forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K should be read in conjunction with our disclosure under the heading “FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS” on page 1.

The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis (“MD&A”) is intended to help the reader understand the results of operations and our financial condition and should be read in conjunction with the accompanying consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Executive Summary

Fiscal 2021 was highlighted by the substantial completion of the initial development phase and start of our second development phase at our Sky Ranch property, along with the launch of our new single-family home rental business. Other notable items include the following:

In fiscal 2021, revenues were comprised mainly of $5.8 million of lot sales, $5.1 million from the sale of 167 and 163 water and wastewater taps, and $2.8 million from oil and gas operations in their drilling process. Comparatively, in fiscal 2020, total revenues were $25.9 million, primarily consisting of $18.9 million of lot sales, and $5.6 million from the sale of 201 and 189 water and wastewater taps. The number of wastewater taps sold are less than the number of water taps sold because we do not provide wastewater services at Wild Pointe. In addition, during fiscal 2021, we recognized $1.6 million of project management fees related to the development at Sky Ranch.

41

Table of Contents

Results of Operations

The results of our operations for the fiscal years ended August 31, 2021 and 2020 were as follows:

​

​

Fiscal 2021 vs. Fiscal 2020

Revenue – Revenue decreased in 2021 as compared to 2020, primarily due to decreased lot sales due to the first development phase being nearly complete and our recognition of revenue in the second development phase not starting until the fourth fiscal quarter. This decrease is partially offset by increased metered water usage from oil and gas operations, recognition of project management revenue related to our management of the construction projects at Sky Ranch, recognition of a forfeited water reserve agreement, and a special facility construction project for WISE. As Sky Ranch continues to grow we anticipate lot sales generating significant revenue in fiscal 2022, and increasing water and wastewater usage fees as we continue to add customers to our water resource development segment.

Cost of revenue – Costs of revenue decreased in 2021 as compared to 2020, primarily due to a decrease in land development costs due to the first development phase being nearly complete and recognition of costs related to the second development phase beginning in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021. The decreases were partially offset by costs attributable to the special facility construction project for WISE and increased water usage related to oil and gas operations.

General and administrative expense – General and administrative expense increased in 2021 as compared to 2020, primarily due to increased head count in 2021 as operations and development continue to expand and increased legal expense of $0.3 million related to the Sky Ranch lot closings with our home builder customers.

Other income, net – Other income, net increased in 2021 as compared to 2020, primarily due to the recognition of outstanding reimbursable costs totaling $20.2 million as the collection of these amounts was deemed probable. Additional information on the reimbursables can be found in Note 14 to the accompanying consolidated financial statements.

42

Table of Contents

Income tax expense – Income tax expense increased in 2021 as compared to 2020, due to higher pre-tax income primarily from the impact related to the recognition of reimbursable costs due from the Sky Ranch CAB. Our effective tax rate remained relatively consistent year over year.

Water delivered – Water deliveries increased in 2021 as compared to 2020, primarily due to increased oil and gas operations, new Sky Ranch customers and increased landscaping and irrigation water usage as more parks and public spaces were completed at Sky Ranch. Oil and gas operations are highly variable and dependent on oil prices and demand for gas and as such we cannot provide any assurances that we will realize this level of sales to oil and gas customers in the future. As Sky Ranch continues to development, we anticipate continued growth in our residential service revenues.

Water and wastewater tap sales – Water and wastewater tap sales decreased in 2021 as compared to 2020 due to the timing of closings at Sky Ranch. The decrease in tap sales was offset by an increase in the rate per water tap sold in 2021. Tap sales are driven by the issuance of building permits and the timing of these are not contractually established with the home builders. The company expects to sell the remaining 41 taps from the first development phase at Sky Ranch in fiscal 2022 and the 229 taps from the first subphase of the second development phase of Sky Ranch during fiscal 2022 through fiscal 2024.

Lots delivered – Lot deliveries decreased in 2021 compared to 2020 due to all lots in the first development phase of Sky Ranch having been delivered as of the first quarter of fiscal 2021. In February 2021, we broke ground on the second development phase and delivered the first 156 lots to home builders in the first subphase.

Water and Wastewater Resource Development Results of Operations

43

Table of Contents

Municipal water usage – Municipal water usage increased in 2021 compared to 2020, primarily due to new Sky Ranch customers in our water and wastewater resource development segment as well as increased water usage due to landscaping and irrigation usage. We anticipate these revenues to continue to increase in the future as more customers are added to our system as Sky Ranch continues to develop.

Oil and gas operations – Oil and gas operations increased in 2021 compared to 2020, primarily due to increased oil and gas prices and new fracking permits obtained by our oil and gas customers. Oil and gas is cyclical in nature as demand and prices fluctuate, as such, we have no way of knowing if water provided to oil and gas operators will increase or decrease in the future.

Wastewater treatment fees – Wastewater treatment fees increased in 2021 compared to 2020, primarily due to new Sky Ranch customers in our water and wastewater resource development segment. We anticipate these revenues to continue to increase in the future as more customers are added to our system as Sky Ranch continues to develop.

Water and wastewater tap fees –Water and wastewater tap fees decreased in 2021 compared to 2020, primarily due to a decrease in the number of taps sold, slightly offset by a price increase of water and wastewater taps. Water and wastewater taps are sold to home builders at the time a building permit is issued and are dependent on when the home builder constructs homes and not contractually driven in terms of timing, as such timing of tap sales fluctuate with demand for new construction. During the fiscal year ended 2021, the average price of a Sky Ranch water and wastewater tap was $31,000 per tap, compared to $29,000 per tap for the fiscal year 2020. During fiscal 2021, we sold 167 water and wastewater taps. During fiscal 2020, we sold 201 water and wastewater taps.

Other revenue – Other revenue increased in 2021 as compared to 2020, primarily due to a 2021 agreement to construct a special facility for WISE, for which $0.4 million of revenue was recognized. The project is recognizing revenue on a percent of completion basis.

Water service costs – Wastewater service costs increased in 2021 as compared to 2020, primarily due to increased water usage associated with our oil and gas customers and additional purchases of WISE water.

Wastewater service costs – Wastewater service costs increased in 2021 as compared to 2020, primarily due to the new Sky Ranch water reclamation facility being online for the entire fiscal year to date and requiring more staff to run.

Other costs of revenue – Other costs of revenue increased in 2021 as compared to 2020, primarily due to costs to construct a special facility for WISE.

Water delivered – Water deliveries increased in 2021 as compared to 2020, primarily due to increased oil and gas operations, new Sky Ranch customers and increased landscaping and irrigation water usage.

Land Development Results of Operations

​

44

Table of Contents

Lot sales – Lot sales decreased in 2021 as compared to 2020, primarily due to phase one being nearly complete. We did not begin recognizing revenue on phase two until the platted lots were delivered to our customer home builders, beginning in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021. Sales price per lot for all delivered lots within the first development has not increased but the revenue recognized per delivered lot does fluctuate due to the timing of revenue recognition as lots are delivered over time.

Project management revenues – Project management revenues increased in 2021 as compared to 2020 due to the determination that reimbursable costs due from the Sky Ranch CAB are deemed probable of collection based on projections showing the Sky Ranch CAB will generate sufficient funds from its tax and fee income to repay us.

Land development construction costs –  Land development construction costs decreased in 2021 as compared to 2020, primarily due to phase one being nearly complete. Phase two costs were capitalized as inventory until the delivery of platted lots to the builders, at which time we began recognizing revenue over time as the construction progresses, which began in the fourth quarter 2021. No completed lots were delivered in 2021 to homebuilders with finished lot delivery contracts. The costs related to these lots remain in inventory until we deliver the finished lots, which we anticipate delivering the first subphase of the second delivery phase finished lots during our fiscal 2022.

Sky Ranch property taxes –Sky Ranch property taxes decreased in 2021 as compared to 2020, primarily due to the improved lots being sold to the homebuilders. Our current basis in the Sky Ranch land is low as the land is not yet improved for residential and commercial use.

Lots delivered – Lot deliveries decreased in 2021 as compared to 2020 due to all lots in the first phase of Sky Ranch having been delivered as of the first quarter of fiscal 2021. We have broken ground on the second phase and the first of four planned lot deliveries occurred in the fourth quarter 2021.

General and Administrative Expenses

The table below details significant items, and changes, included in our General and Administrative Expenses (“G&A Expenses”) as well as the impact that share-based compensation has on our G&A Expenses for the fiscal years ended August 31, 2021 and 2020.

Summary of G&A Expenses

​