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Investments in Water Assets
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2017
Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]  
Investments in Water Assets
INVESTMENTS IN WATER ASSETS
Tangible Water Assets
Tangible water assets include water assets held for future use within our real estate developments and farming. Tangible water is held at cost, which includes the price paid for the water and the cost incurred to pump and deliver the water. A portion of our water is currently held in a water bank on Company land in southern Kern County. Banked water costs also include costs related to the right to receive additional acre-feet of water in the future from the Antelope Valley East Kern Water Agency, or AVEK. The Company has also banked water within an AVEK owned water bank and with TCWD.
We have also purchased water for future company uses or in certain circumstances, sale. In 2008 we purchased 8,393 acre feet of transferable water and in 2009 we purchased an additional 6,393 acre-feet of transferable water, the remaining portion of which is held on our behalf by AVEK under an agreement where AVEK will return this water to us at a 1.5 to 1 factor. To date, at the 1.5 to 1 factor, 11,235 acre-feet (7,490 X 1.5) of water has been returned and was placed in our Company water bank.
The costs assigned to tangible water assets were as follows ($ in thousands):
 
March 31, 2017
 
December 31, 2016
Banked water and water for future delivery
$
5,025

 
$
4,779

Transferable water
13,105

 
9,075

Total tangible water
$
18,130

 
$
13,854



Intangible Water Assets
The Company's carrying amounts of its intangible water assets were as follows: ($ in thousands):
 
March 31, 2017
 
December 31, 2016
 
Costs
 
Accumulated Depreciation
 
Costs
 
Accumulated Depreciation
Dudley Ridge water rights
$
12,203

 
$
(3,206
)
 
$
12,203

 
$
(2,895
)
Nickel water rights
18,740

 
(2,195
)
 
18,740

 
(2,218
)
Tulare Lake Basin water rights
5,857

 
(1,827
)
 
5,857

 
(1,777
)
 
$
36,800

 
$
(7,228
)
 
$
36,800

 
$
(6,890
)
Net intangible water assets
29,572

 
 
 
29,910

 
 
Total tangible water assets
18,130

 
 
 
13,854

 
 
Net investments in water assets
$
47,702

 
 
 
$
43,764

 
 


We have secured State Water Project, or SWP, entitlement under long-term SWP water contracts within the Tulare Lake Basin Water Storage District, or TLBWSD, and the Dudley-Ridge Water District, or DRWD, totaling 3,444 acre-feet of SWP entitlement annually, subject to annual SWP allocations. These contracts extend through 2035 and now have been transferred to AVEK for our use in the Antelope Valley. In 2013, the Company acquired from DMB Pacific, or DMB, a contract to purchase water that obligates the Company to purchase 6,693 acre feet of water each year from the Nickel Family, LLC, or Nickel, a California limited liability company that is located in Kern County. The initial term of the water purchase agreement with Nickel runs to 2044 and includes a Company option to extend the contract for an additional 35 years. Purchase costs in 2017 were $716 per acre-foot. For future years, the purchase cost is subject to annual increases based on the greater of the consumer price index or 3%.
The water purchased above is expected to be used in the development of the Company’s land for commercial/industrial development, residential development, and farming. Interim uses may include the sale of portions of this water to third party users on an annual basis until this water is fully allocated to Company uses.
Water contracts with the Wheeler Ridge Maricopa Water Storage District, or WRMWSD, and the Tejon-Castac Water District, or TCWD, are also in place, but were entered into with each district at inception of the contract and not purchased later from third parties, and do not have a related financial carrying cost on the books of the Company. Therefore, there is no amortization expense related to these contracts. These contracts are also subject to annual SWP allocations.
Water assets consist of the following:
(in acre feet, unaudited)
March 31, 2017
 
December 31, 2016
Tangible water assets
 
 
 
Banked water and water for future delivery
 
 
 
AVEK water bank
13,033

 
13,033

Company water bank
22,117

 
17,287

AVEK water for future delivery
5,316

 
2,362

Transferable water*
13,049

 
9,062

Total tangible water assets
53,515

 
41,744

Intangible water assets
 
 
 
Water contracts
10,137

 
10,137

WRMWSD - Contract[s] with Company
15,547

 
15,547

TCWD - Contract[s] with Company
5,278

 
5,749

TCWD - Banked water contracted with Company
36,557

 
33,390

Total intangible water assets
67,519

 
64,823

Total water sources in acre feet
121,034

 
106,567

* Of the 13,049 acre feet of transferable water, 7,295 acre feet of transferable water with AVEK that is used by the Company or returned by AVEK to the Company will be returned at a 1.5 to 1 factor giving the Company use of a total of 10,943 (7,295 x 1.5) acre feet as of March 31, 2017.

Tejon Ranchcorp, or Ranchcorp, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tejon Ranch Co., has a Water Supply Agreement with Pastoria Energy Facility, L.L.C., or PEF. PEF is the current lessee under the power plant lease. Pursuant to the Water Supply Agreement, PEF may purchase from Ranchcorp up to 3,500 acre feet of water per year from January 1, 2017 through July 31, 2030, with an option to extend the term. PEF is under no obligation to purchase water from Ranchcorp in any year, but is required to pay Ranchcorp an annual option payment equal to 30% of the maximum annual payment. The price of the water under the Water Supply Agreement for 2017 is $1,056 per acre foot of annual water, subject to 3% annual increases over the life of the contract. The Water Supply Agreement contains other customary terms and conditions, including representations and warranties, which are typical for agreements of this type. The Company's commitments to sell water can be met through current water assets.
During the three months ended March 31, 2017, we sold 939 acre feet of water to PEF totaling $1,109,000 with a cost of $765,000, which was recorded in the mineral resources segment on the unaudited Consolidated Statements of Operations.