Global Water Resources, Inc. (GWRS) Business

ITEM 1. Business

Overview

GWRI is a water resource management company that owns, operates, and manages thirty-nine water, wastewater, and recycled water public utility systems in strategically located communities, principally in metropolitan Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona. We seek to deploy an integrated approach, referred to as “Total Water Management.” Total Water Management is a comprehensive approach to water utility management that reduces demand on scarce non-renewable water sources and costly renewable water supplies, in a manner that ensures sustainability and greatly benefits communities both environmentally and economically. This approach employs a series of principles and practices that can be tailored to each community:

•Reuse of recycled water, either directly or to non-potable uses, through aquifer recharge, or possibly direct potable reuse in the future;

•Regional planning;

•Use of advanced technology and data;

•Employing respected subject matter experts and retaining thought leaders;

•Leading outreach and educational initiatives to ensure all stakeholders including customers, development partners, municipalities, regulators, and utility staff are knowledgeable on the principles and practices of the Total Water Management approach; and

•Establishing partnerships with communities, developers, and industry stakeholders to gain support of the Total Water Management principles and practices.

Serving more than 121,000 people in approximately 40,000 homes within the Company’s 418 square miles of ACC-designated service areas as of December 31, 2025, the Company provides water and wastewater utility service under the regulatory authority of the ACC. Approximately 87.3% of the active service connections are customers of the Company’s GW-Santa Cruz and GW-Palo Verde utilities, which are located within a single service area.

U.S. Water Industry Overview

U.S. Water Industry Areas of Business

The U.S. water industry has two main areas of business:

•Utility Service to Customers. This business includes water and wastewater utilities, which are owned and operated by governmental subdivisions or investors in the private sector. Investor-owned water and wastewater utilities are generally economically regulated, including rate regulation, by public utility commissions in the states in which they operate. The utility segment is characterized by high barriers to entry, including high capital spending requirements.

•General Water Products and Service. This business includes manufacturing, engineering and consulting companies, and numerous other fee-for-service businesses. The activities of these businesses include the building, financing, and operating of water and wastewater utilities, utility repair, contract operations, laboratory service, manufacturing and distribution of infrastructure and technology components, and other specialized services.

Key Characteristics of the U.S. Water Industry

The U.S. water industry is characterized by:

•Significant Constraints on the Availability of Fresh Water. In Arizona, the ADWR estimates that annual water usage is 7 million acre-feet per year, as of 2017. Arizona has the right to use 2.8 million acre-feet from the Colorado River and approximately half of that can be delivered through the Central Arizona Project, a 336-mile long system of aqueducts, tunnels, pumping plants, and pipelines from the Colorado River to central Arizona. The Colorado River is shared by seven U.S. States and Mexico and is presently over-allocated, which means that more surface water right allocations have been issued than the actual average annual flow, with allocations being determined based on data from a period during which flows were significantly higher than in recent years. The Central Arizona Project is the only means of transporting Colorado River water into central Arizona. Approximately 41% of the water used in Arizona comes from groundwater. Water in the western U.S. is being pumped from groundwater sources faster than it is replenished naturally, a condition known as overdraft. In areas of water scarcity, such as the arid western U.S., water recycling represents a relatively simple, inexpensive, and energy-efficient means of augmenting water supply as compared to

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transporting surface water, groundwater, or desalinated water from other locations. Approximately 70% of the water provided for municipal use is currently utilized for non-potable applications where recycled water could potentially be utilized.

•Lack of Technology Utilization to Increase Operating Efficiencies and Decrease Operating Costs. The U.S. water industry has traditionally not taken advantage of advances in technology available to enhance revenue, increase operating efficiencies and decrease operating costs (including labor and energy costs). Areas of opportunity include AMI, systems management, and administrative functions, such as customer billing and remittance systems. Key drivers for the lack of investment in technology in water and wastewater utilities have been the historical lack of incentives offered or standards imposed by regulators to achieve efficiencies and lower costs and the ownership of the U.S. water utility sector, which largely consists of small, undercapitalized, municipally-owned utilities that lack the financial and technical resources to pursue technology opportunities.

•Highly Fragmented Ownership. The utility segment of the U.S. water industry is highly fragmented, with approximately 50,000 water utilities and approximately 15,000 community wastewater utilities, according to the NAWC. Ninety per cent of the country’s water utilities are serving a population of 10,000 or less, and more than half serve fewer than 500 people.

•Large Public Sector Ownership. Municipally-owned utilities provide water and wastewater service for the vast majority of the U.S. population. For homes connected to a community water system, approximately 87% are provided service by municipally-owned utilities.

•Aging Infrastructure in Need of Significant Capital Expenditures. Water infrastructure in the U.S. is aging and requires significant investment and stringent focus on cost control to upgrade or replace aging facilities and to provide service to growing populations. Throughout the U.S., utilities are required to make expenditures on the rehabilitation of existing utilities and on the installation of new infrastructure to accommodate growth and make improvements to water quality and wastewater discharges mandated by stricter water quality standards. Water quality standards, first introduced with the Clean Water Act in 1972 and the Safe Drinking Water Act in 1974, are becoming increasingly stringent and numerous. According to the EPA, estimated investments in excess of $1 trillion in water and wastewater infrastructure will be needed over the next 20 years to ensure safe drinking water while protecting local waterways. The American Society of Civil Engineers expects the U.S. will need to find additional capital investments of up to $99 billion annually for the next twenty years in order to update and grow the nation’s drinking water and wastewater systems.

Private Sector Opportunities

Municipal water utilities typically fund their capital expenditure needs through user-based water and wastewater rates, municipal taxes, or the issuance of bonds. However, raising large amounts of funds required for capital investment is often challenging for municipal water utilities, which affects their ability to fund capital spending. Many smaller utilities also do not have the in-house technical and engineering resources to manage significant infrastructure or technology-related investments. In order to meet their capital spending challenges and take advantage of technology-related operating efficiencies, many municipalities are examining a combination of outsourcing and partnerships with the private sector or outright privatizations.

•Outsourcing involves municipally-owned utilities contracting with private sector service providers to provide service, such as meter reading, billing, maintenance, or asset management.

•Public-private partnerships among government, operating companies, and private investors include arrangements, such as design, build and operate contracts; build, own, operate and transfer contracts; and own, leaseback and operate contracts.

•Privatization involves a transfer of responsibility for, and ownership of, the utility from the municipality to private investors.

Investor-owned utilities that have greater access to capital are generally more capable of making mandated and other necessary infrastructure upgrades to both water and wastewater utilities, addressing increasingly stringent environmental and human health standards, and navigating a wide variety of regulatory processes. In addition, investor-owned utilities that achieve larger scale are able to spread overhead expenses over a larger customer base, thereby reducing the costs to serve each customer. Since many administrative and support activities can be efficiently centralized to gain economies of scale and sharing of best practices, companies that participate in industry consolidation have the potential to improve operating efficiencies, lower costs, and improve service at the same time.

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Our Strategy

We are a water resource management company that provides water, wastewater, and recycled water utility service, leading in Total Water Management practices, such as water scarcity management and advanced water recycling applications. Our long-term goal is to become one of the largest investor-owned operators of integrated water and wastewater utilities in areas of the arid western U.S., where water scarcity management is necessary for long-term economic sustainability and growth.

Our growth strategy involves the elements listed below:

•Acquiring or forming utilities in the path of prospective population growth;

•Expanding our service areas geographically and organically growing our customer base within those areas; and

•Deploying our Total Water Management approach into these utilities and service areas.

We believe this plan can be executed in our current service areas and in other geographic areas where water scarcity management is necessary to support long-term growth and in which regulatory authorities recognize the need for water conservation through water recycling.

Total Water Management is a demand-side-management framework (in that it is a solution intended to drive down demand for water supplies versus developing new water supplies) that alleviates the pressures of water scarcity in communities where growth is reasonably expected to outpace potable water supply. Built on an all-encompassing view of the water cycle, Total Water Management promotes sustainable community development through reduced potable water consumption while monetizing the value of water through each stage of delivery, collection, and reuse.

Our business model applies Total Water Management in high growth communities. Components of our Total Water Management approach include:

•Regional planning to reduce overall design and implementation costs, leveraging the benefits of replicable designs, gaining the benefits of economies of scale, and enhancing the Company’s position as a premier water and wastewater service provider in the region.

•For example, the Company has secured six separate area-wide Clean Water Act Section 208 Regional Water Quality Management Plans in its major planning areas, covering more than 500 square miles of land. To obtain these plans, a provider must develop, amongst other things, a regional wastewater solution, including plans for engineering, infrastructure location and size, and goals for the management of treated reclaimed water, which the Company successfully demonstrated in obtaining its plans.

•Stretching a limited resource by maximizing the use of recycled water, using renewable surface water where available and recharging aquifers with any available excess water.

◦For example, the Company’s water recycling model has been fully implemented in the City of Maricopa. The Company is the water, wastewater, and recycled water provider for the City of Maricopa, which currently has a population of approximately 86,000. A community of this size produces an approximate annual average of 4.1 million gallons of wastewater per day. Because the Company requires developers to take back and utilize recycled water within their communities and invest in “purple pipe” recycled water infrastructure during the initial development of subdivisions, the Company is now able to distribute the majority of its recycled water back to the community for beneficial purposes. Approximately 56% of the recycled water goes towards common area non-potable irrigation and for use at a local farm, which allows for the recycled water to naturally recharge into the aquifer. This reduces the total amount of limited ground or surface water that would otherwise be required within the community by almost 30%. To date, the Company has reused approximately 19.3 billion gallons of recycled water in the City of Maricopa.

•Integrating and standardizing water, wastewater and recycled water infrastructure delivery systems using a separate recycled water distribution system of purple pipe to maximize effective and safe water reuse, conserve water resources, reduce energy, treatment and consumable costs (e.g., chemicals, filter media, other general materials, and supplies), provide operational efficiencies, and align the otherwise disparate objectives of water sales and conservation.

◦In addition to the previous example, which relates to the increasing adoption and demand for recycled water usage, the separate recycled water distribution system of purple pipe, and the Company’s water conservation achievements, the Company believes that its model results in additional benefits from an economic perspective due to lower use of power and consumables. For every gallon of recycled water that is directly reused while already on land surface, the need to pump additional scarce groundwater and surface water is

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reduced. Such additional groundwater and surface water would otherwise need to be treated and distributed in accordance with the Safe Drinking Water Act, which is costly and requires significant energy.

•Gaining market and regulatory acceptance of broad utilization of recycled water through agreements with developers, strategic relationships with governments, academic research, and publication as industry experts, coupled with public education and community outreach campaigns.

◦For example, the Company has public-private partnerships formally adopted through memoranda of understanding and/or license/franchise agreements with the City of Maricopa, City of Casa Grande, City of Coolidge, and Town of Sahuarita. Many of these agreements reflect the Company’s intent to deploy Total Water Management. The Company also has 149 ICFAs in effect with landowners or developer entities that include requirements for usage of recycled water and other attributes that support the Company’s Total Water Management model. As discussed above, the Company’s integrated provider model, which is focused on the maximum use of recycled water, underpins its Clean Water Act Section 208 Regional Water Quality Management Plans and Designations of Assured Water Supply. In addition, the Company has won numerous awards for education, outreach and conservation in the water industry.

•Incorporating automated processes, such as supervisory control and data acquisition, AMI and back-office technologies and “green” billing, which reduce operating costs, improve system availability and reliability, and improve customer satisfaction.

◦Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition. The Company employs supervisory control and data acquisition in most of its utility systems, which provides continuous monitoring, instantaneous alarming and historical trending on all key operating assets, including instrumentation and dynamic components (e.g., pumps, motor-controlled valves, treatment systems, etc.). This data is reported back to the appropriate operations personnel through a standard industry software. The benefits of this system include the significantly enhanced ability to: achieve compliance and safety mandates; reduce service outages; troubleshoot systems; provide for remote operations and allow for proactive maintenance and lower costs related to efficient real-time operations.

◦Automated Meter Infrastructure. The Company has implemented AMI for approximately 90% of its active customers with a substantial proportion of its remaining customers in the process of being, or planned to be, upgraded with such functionality. Currently, all meters in our Maricopa service areas allow for AMI. This technology reads each meter numerous times per day (often hourly) and continuously transmits the meter readings back to a centralized database through a communications tower and cellular transmission units. The data is then presented to the utility, and is made available to customers, through a simple user interface. Reading meters at this frequency provides many benefits to both the utility and the customer. With this data, we can better model demand usage, identify system water loss, identify leaks on the customer side of the meter, monitor for abnormal usage and present interval, hourly, daily, weekly or monthly usage back to the customers.

◦Back-Office Technologies and Paperless Billing. The Company employs a series of technologies that allow for the automation of the billing and remittance process. The Company also provides its customers with several ways to pay, with the majority of options being integrated with the Company’s back-office technologies. In combination with AMI, this suite of technology has minimized the use of human labor and reduced the potential for human error for the entire billing and remittance process, while providing better customer service.

Our Total Water Management-based business model provides us with a significant competitive advantage in high growth, water scarce regions. Based on our experience and discussions with developers, we believe developers prefer our approach because it provides a bundled solution to infrastructure provision and improves housing density in areas of scarce water resources. Developers are also focusing on increased consumer and regulatory demands for environmentally friendly or "green" housing alternatives. Communities prefer the approach because it provides a partnering platform which promotes economic development, reduces their traditional dependence on bond financing and ensures long term water sustainability.

Our competitive advantage facilitates the execution of our growth strategy. We believe our proven conservation methods lead to successful permitting for more connections in expanded and new service areas.

A key component of our water utility business is the use of recycled water. Recycled water is highly treated and purified wastewater that is distributed through a separate distribution system of purple pipes for a variety of beneficial, non-potable uses. Recycled water can be delivered for all common area irrigation needs, as well as delivered direct to homes where it can be used for outdoor residential irrigation. Our Total Water Management model, an integrated approach to the use of potable and non-potable water to manage the entire water cycle, both conserves water and maximizes its total economic value. The application

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of the Total Water Management model has proven to be effective as a means of water scarcity management that promotes sustainable communities and helps achieve greater dwelling unit density in areas where the availability of sustainable water can be a key constraint on development.

Our Regulated Utilities

We own and operate regulated water, wastewater, and recycled water utilities in communities principally located in metropolitan Phoenix and Tucson. Our utilities are regulated by the ACC, as described further under “—Regulation—Arizona Regulatory Agencies” below. As of December 31, 2025, our utilities collectively had 68,577 active service connections offering predictable rate-regulated cash flows. Revenue from our regulated utilities accounted for all of our total revenue in 2025. Our utilities currently possess the high-level regional permits that allow us to implement our business model; thus, we believe we are well-positioned for organic growth in our current service areas that are generally located in Arizona’s population growth corridors: Maricopa County, Pinal County and Pima County.

For information related to rate cases for our utilities, see “– Regulation” below, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Rate Case Activity”, included in Part II, Item 7 of this report and Note 3 – “Regulatory Matters” of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report.

A summary description of our utilities at December 31, 2025 is set forth in the following table and described in more detail below:

(1) Certified areas may overlap in whole or in part for separate utilities.

Pinal County

The City of Maricopa is located in Pinal County, approximately 12 miles south of Phoenix. The relative proximity to a significant urban center, coupled with relatively abundant and inexpensive land, were the key drivers of the real estate boom experienced by this community. The City of Maricopa continues to grow, as demonstrated by our addition of 9,008 active service connections, which represents 3.5% annualized growth from December 2021 to December 2025. Development in the area is still considered to be affordable, with the median home value being $346,350 compared to $450,000 in the Phoenix metropolitan area.

We operate in this region through GW-Santa Cruz and GW-Palo Verde, both of which we acquired in 2004. GW-Santa Cruz served 30,147 active service connections as of December 31, 2025 and revenue from GW-Santa Cruz represented approximately 40.2% and 41.0% of our total revenue for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. GW-Palo Verde served 29,727 active service connections as of December 31, 2025 and revenue from GW-Palo Verde represented approximately 48.7% and 50.7% of our total revenue for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively.

The GW-Santa Cruz and GW-Palo Verde service areas include approximately 207 square miles, which provide further opportunities for growth. Most of the GW-Santa Cruz and GW-Palo Verde infrastructure is less than twenty years old. GW-

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Santa Cruz and GW-Palo Verde provide water, wastewater and recycled water service, respectively, under an innovative public-private partnership memorandum of understanding with the City of Maricopa in Pinal County for approximately 278 square miles of its planning area. We signed a similar memorandum of understanding with the City of Casa Grande to partner in providing water, wastewater, and recycled water service to an approximate 100 square miles of its western region for anticipated growth.

Maricopa County

We operate in this region through GW-Hassayampa, GW-Belmont and GW-Turner.

GW-Hassayampa is a wastewater utility and has a CC&N for approximately 43 square miles in an area in western Maricopa County known as Tonopah. GW-Hassayampa has two active service connections as of December 31, 2025, and its service area lies directly in the expected path of future growth in the far west valley of metropolitan Phoenix, which we believe should provide opportunities for growth once development commences in this area.

GW-Belmont served 662 active service connections as of December 31, 2025. The service area includes approximately 111 square miles and provides water service to Maricopa County west of the Hassayampa River and to two small subdivisions in northern Scottsdale. Within the GW-Belmont service area, we have entered into agreements with developers of mixed use, master planned communities to serve approximately 100,000 anticipated home sites plus commercial, schools, parks and industrial developments at full build-out.

GW-Turner is a non-potable irrigation water utility located in Maricopa County, Arizona, with approximately seven square miles of service area. GW-Turner served 962 residential and commercial irrigation customers as of December 31, 2025.

Pima County

We operate in this region through GW-Saguaro, GW-Farmers and GW-Ocotillo. We formed GW-Ocotillo for the purpose of acquiring water systems in this region from the City of Tucson, which we acquired in July 2025. For additional information on the completed acquisition, refer to Note 2 – “Acquisitions” of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report.

GW-Saguaro and GW-Farmers served 1,565 and 3,510 active water connections, respectively, in Sahuarita, Arizona and unincorporated Pima County, Arizona as of December 31, 2025. GW-Ocotillo served 2,002 active water connections in unincorporated Pima County, Arizona as of December 31, 2025. Collectively, the Company’s Pima County utilities serve approximately 50 square miles of service area.

Regulation

Our water and wastewater utility operations are subject to extensive regulation by U.S. federal, state and local regulatory agencies that enforce environmental, health and safety requirements, which affect all of our regulated subsidiaries. These requirements include the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Water Act and the regulations issued under these laws by the EPA. We are also subject to state environmental laws and regulations, such as Arizona’s Aquifer Protection Permit program and other environmental laws and regulations enforced by the ADEQ, and extensive regulation by the ACC, which regulates public utilities in Arizona. The ACC has broad administrative power and authority to set rates and charges, determine service areas and conditions of service and authorize the issuance of securities. The ACC also has authority to establish uniform systems of accounts and approve the terms of contracts with both affiliates and customers.

We are also subject to various federal, state and local laws and regulations governing the storage of hazardous materials, the management and disposal of hazardous and solid wastes, discharges to air and water, the cleanup of contaminated sites, fire protection service in the areas we serve and other matters relating to the protection of the environment, health and safety.

In addition to regulation by governmental entities, our operations may also be affected by civic or consumer advocacy groups. These organizations provide a voice for customers at local and national levels to communicate their service priorities and concerns. Although these organizations may lack regulatory or enforcement authority, they may be influential in achieving service quality and rate improvements for customers.

We maintain a comprehensive environmental program which addresses, among other things, responsible business practices and compliance with environmental laws and regulations, including the use and conservation of natural resources. Water samples across our water system are analyzed on a regular basis in material compliance with regulatory requirements. Water quality tests are conducted at contracted laboratory facilities in addition to providing continuous online instrumentation for monitoring parameters, such as turbidity and disinfectant residuals, and allowing for adjustments to chemical treatment based on changes in

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incoming water quality. Compliance with governmental regulations is of utmost importance to us, and considerable time and resources are spent ensuring compliance with all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations.

Capital expenditures and operating costs to comply with environmental mandates traditionally have been recognized by the ACC as appropriate for inclusion in establishing rates. We generally expect to recover expenses associated with compliance for environmental and health and safety standards through rate increases, but this recovery may be affected by “regulatory lag”, that is, the delay between the utility’s test year and the issuance of a rate order approving new rates.

We continue to evaluate and monitor U.S. federal, state and local legislation and regulations but cannot predict the impact of new or changing regulations on our business at this time.

Safe Drinking Water Act

The federal Safe Drinking Water Act and regulations promulgated thereunder establish minimum national quality standards for drinking water. The EPA has issued rules governing the levels of numerous naturally occurring and man-made chemical and microbial contaminants and radionuclides allowable in drinking water and continues to propose new rules. These rules also prescribe testing requirements for detecting contaminants, the treatment systems that may be used for removing contaminants, and other requirements. Federal and state water quality requirements have become increasingly more stringent, including increased water testing requirements, to reflect public health concerns. In Arizona, the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act are incorporated by reference into the Arizona Administrative Code.

In order to remove or inactivate microbial organisms, the EPA has promulgated various rules to improve the disinfection and filtration of drinking water and to reduce consumers’ exposure to disinfectants and by-products of the disinfection process.

Contaminants of emerging concern (“CECs”) are chemicals and other substances that have no regulatory standard but have been discovered in water or in the environment where they had not previously been detected, or were only present at insignificant levels. CECs may form the basis for additional regulatory initiatives and requirements in the future. We rely on governmental agencies to establish regulatory standards regarding CECs, and we meet or exceed these standards, when established.

Although it is difficult to project the ultimate costs of complying with the above or other pending or future requirements, we do not expect current requirements under the Safe Drinking Water Act to have a material impact on our operations or financial condition, although it is possible new methods of treating drinking water may be required if additional regulations become effective in the future.

National Primary Drinking Water Regulations

The NPDWR are legally enforceable primary standards and treatment techniques that apply to public water systems and are designed to limit the levels of contaminants in drinking water.

On April 10, 2024, the EPA finalized the NPDWR establishing legally enforceable levels, called MCLs, for six PFAS in drinking water. The EPA also finalized health-based, non-enforceable MCL goals for these PFAS. The final rule requires that public water systems, such as the Company, must monitor for these PFAS and have three years to complete initial monitoring, followed by ongoing compliance monitoring. Public water systems must also provide the public with information on the levels of these PFAS in their drinking water beginning in 2027. Public water systems have until 2029 to implement solutions that reduce these PFAS if monitoring shows that drinking water levels exceed the applicable MCLs. Beginning in 2029, public water systems that have PFAS in drinking water which violate one or more of these MCLs must take action to reduce levels of these PFAS in their drinking water and must provide notification to the public of the violation.

We are committed to compliance with the NPDWR and are in process of complying with the first PFAS requirement of the rule mandating initial monitoring for all of our utilities. The Company expects that compliance with the NPDWR will require increased capital expenditures for PFAS-contaminated water treatment and other operating costs. If other newer or stricter standards are introduced in the future, they could also increase our operating expenses.

Lead and Copper Rule Improvements

In October 2024, the EPA announced a final rule requiring drinking water systems to identify and replace lead pipes within ten years. In accordance with the 2021 Lead and Copper Rule Revision and in connection with the 2024 Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, the Company has conducted an inventory of its service lines. As of December 31, 2025, the evaluation was substantially complete and no lead pipes were found in our water systems. For the seven water systems acquired from the City of Tucson in July 2025, the Company is assessing the baseline inventory. Further compliance actions and prioritization will be

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impacted by compliance monitoring results and cooperation with customers with respect to the customer-owned portion of the service lines, as necessary. While the Company is evaluating the full impact of this new rule, we do not believe it will have a material impact on our results of operations.

Clean Water Act

The federal Clean Water Act regulates discharges of liquid effluents from drinking water and wastewater treatment facilities into waters of the U.S., including lakes, rivers, streams and subsurface, or sanitary sewers. In Arizona, with the exception of Clean Water Act Section 208 Regional Water Quality Management Plans, capacity management and operations and maintenance requirements, and source control requirements, wastewater operations are primarily regulated under the Aquifer Protection Permit program and the Arizona Pollutant Discharge Elimination System program.

The EPA certifies Clean Water Act Section 208 Regional Water Quality Management Plans and Amendments, which govern the location of water reclamation facilities and wastewater treatment plants. The EPA’s 40 C.F.R. Pt. 503 bio-solids requirements are reported to the EPA through the ADEQ. While we are not presently regulated to meet source control requirements, we maintain source control through various Codes of Practice that have been accepted by the ACC as enforceable limits on consumer discharges to sanitary sewer systems. We maintain the necessary permits and approvals for the discharges from our water and wastewater facilities.

Arizona Regulatory Agencies

Rate Regulation

The ACC is the regulatory authority in Arizona with jurisdiction over privately-held water and wastewater utilities. The ACC has exclusive constitutional authority related to ratemaking and extensive constitutional authority to mandate accounting treatments, authorize long-term financing programs, evaluate significant capital expenditures and plant additions, examine and regulate transactions between a regulated subsidiary and its affiliated entities and approve or disapprove some reorganizations, mergers and acquisitions prior to their completion. Additionally, the ACC has statutory authority to oversee service quality and consumer complaints and approve or disapprove expansion of service areas. The ACC is comprised of five elected members, each serving a four-year term.

Companies that wish to provide water or wastewater service apply for a CC&N with the ACC, which, if granted, allows them to serve customers within a geographic area specified by a legal description of the property. In considering an application for a CC&N, the ACC will determine if the applicant is fit and proper to provide service within a specified area, whether the applicant has sufficient technical, managerial and financial capabilities to provide the service and if that service is necessary and in the public interest. Once a CC&N is granted, the utility falls under the ACC’s jurisdiction and must abide by the rules and laws under which a public service corporation operates.

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The following table describes current rate case actions as applicable for each of our regulated utilities (in millions):

(1)Approved incremental annual revenue represents the aggregate annual revenue increase following the final phase-in period. To the extent that the number of active service connections has increased and continues to increase from a rate case’s test year levels, the additional revenues may be greater than the amounts set forth above. On the other hand, if active connections decrease or the Company experiences declining usage per customer, the Company may not realize all of the anticipated revenues.

(2)The final phase-in of rates under this rate case was effective January 1, 2024.

(3)The first increase for GW-Saguaro was effective July 1, 2024. The subsequent four increases will be effective on January 1 of each subsequent year. The majority of the revenue increase was phased in on January 1, 2025.

(4)Rates are being phased-in over three periods. 50% of the increase was effective on May 1, 2025, with another 25%effective on November 1, 2025. The final 25% increase will be phased in on May 1, 2026.

(5)In March 2025, the Company filed a general rate case application with the ACC related to its GW-Santa Cruz and GW-Palo Verde utilities. The GW-Santa Cruz and GW-Palo Verde rate case is based on a test year ending December 31, 2024, with updates for changes in post-test year plant. Testimony commenced in the fourth quarter of 2025, and hearings are scheduled to begin in August 2026.

For a full summary of the Company’s current regulatory activity, including other approved details of recent rate cases, refer to Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Rate Regulation Updates”, included in Part II, Item 7 of this report and Note 3 — “Regulatory Matters” of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report.

Environmental Regulation

Arizona water and wastewater utilities must also comply with state environmental regulation regarding drinking water and wastewater, including environmental regulations set by Councils of Government (such as the Central Arizona Governments and the Maricopa Association of Governments), the ADEQ and the ADWR.

The Central Arizona Governments is the designated management authority for Section 208 of the Clean Water Act for Pinal and Gila Counties and administers the requirements of the Regional Water Quality Management Plans and Amendments at the local level. The Maricopa Association of Governments is the designated management authority for Section 208 of the Clean Water Act for Maricopa County and administers the requirements of the Regional Water Quality Management Plans and Amendments at the local level.

The ADEQ regulates water quality and permits water reclamation facilities, discharges of recycled water, re-use of recycled water and recharge of recycled water. The ADEQ also regulates the clean closure requirements of facilities. The Maricopa County Environmental Services Department has delegated authority for overseeing ADEQ requirements in Maricopa County. The Pima County Department of Environmental Quality has delegated authority for overseeing ADEQ requirements in Pima County.

The ADWR regulates surface water extraction, groundwater withdrawal, designations and certificates of assured water supply, extinguishment of irrigation grandfathered water rights, groundwater savings facilities, recharge facilities, recharge permits, recovery well permits, storage accounts and well construction, abandonment or replacement.

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Within each regulatory organization, we have invested in developing cooperative relationships at all levels, from staff to executives to elected and appointed officials, and have adopted a proactive attitude toward regulatory compliance.

Assured and Adequate Water Supply Regulations

We intend to seek access to renewable water supplies as we grow our water resource portfolio. However, we currently rely predominantly on the pumping of groundwater and the generation and delivery of recycled water for non-potable uses to meet future demands in our service areas. Aside from some rights to water through the Central Arizona Project, groundwater (and recycled water derived from groundwater) is the only water supply available to us.

Although we intend to rely on recycled water to help meet water demands in some areas, the infrastructure, permits and customer base necessary to generate and deliver recycled water are not necessarily in place in most of our service areas. In addition, although recycling can extend a limited supply, it does not actually generate a new supply of water. As such, although our proposed generation and delivery of recycled water is likely to help reduce the amount of groundwater that will be required to serve future customers, our ability to serve new customers will remain dependent on our ability to access groundwater. Groundwater is a limited resource in Arizona, and new uses of groundwater are closely regulated in the areas served by us. See “Risk Factors—Business and Operational Factors—Inadequate water supplies and wastewater capacity could have a material adverse effect upon our ability to achieve the customer growth necessary to increase our revenue,” included in Part I, Item 1A of this report, for additional information.

Nearly all of our service areas are located in “Active Management Areas” within which the use of groundwater is regulated by ADWR in order to manage ongoing challenges with groundwater overdraft. Under Arizona’s assured water supply laws and regulations, a new subdivision inside an Active Management Area must demonstrate that it has an “assured water supply” to the satisfaction of the ADWR before the developer is permitted to sell lots. Demonstration of an assured water supply requires, among other things, that an applicant demonstrate that water supplies will be physically, continuously, and legally available to satisfy the water needs of the proposed use for at least 100 years.

A developer may make an independent showing of an assured water supply resulting in a CAWS for a subdivision or may obtain a written commitment for service from a designated water provider, such as a privately owned water company or a municipal water supplier. Under the latter approach, the water provider must demonstrate satisfaction of assured water supply requirements for the developments within its service areas resulting in a DAWS for the provider. A DAWS is subject to periodic review and renewal by the ADWR and can be increased as demand grows within the service territory, subject to the physical availability of existing water supplies and any additional supplies acquired for use within the DAWS.

At present, we have obtained a DAWS in the Maricopa/Casa Grande region (GW-Santa Cruz) for two distinct service areas for approximately 22,900 acre-feet of water use in total. Over time, we anticipate GW-Santa Cruz will apply to increase the DAWS as sufficient increased demand is established in the area. We have significant unused DAWS capacity in the larger service area in the north, including the incorporated City of Maricopa. In a smaller service area southwest of the City of Maricopa within Pinal County, the DAWS coverage is limited and more constrained by state law and groundwater regulations, which may impact developers’ ability to obtain final plat approval if the DAWS is not expanded.

Under our highly efficient Total Water Management model, we have achieved much lower per-unit potable water use rates than would be expected for average developments. In 2025, we used approximately 9,501 acre-feet of the annually available 22,900 acre-feet already permitted in the DAWS.

For our West Valley service territory (GW-Belmont), we are seeking a DAWS in the future. In December 2024, we obtained a DAWS for part of our Pima County service territory (GW-Farmers), effective January 1, 2025. The DAWS covers approximately 5,300 acre-feet of water use, and in 2025, we pumped approximately 985 acre-feet. In our other service areas, we rely upon a CAWS obtained by developers to demonstrate an assured water supply, or will apply for a DAWS in the future when required. There is no assurance that the ADWR would provide a new CAWS, DAWS or add any additional acre-feet to a DAWS in the future.

Outside of Arizona’s Active Management Areas, the “adequate water supply” program requires a determination of whether there is an adequate water supply—similar to an assured water supply—but it does not necessarily foreclose development when the showing cannot be made. Unless the county government has voted to make the requirement mandatory, a development (outside of Active Management Areas) that cannot demonstrate access to an adequate water supply is generally required only to disclose this fact, although as a practical matter few developments have proceeded on this basis.

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See “Risk Factors—Legal, Regulatory, and Legislative Factors—Our ability to expand into new service areas and to expand current water and wastewater service depends on approval from regulatory agencies. Failure to obtain required regulatory approvals will adversely affect future growth,” included in Part I, Item 1A of this report, for additional information.

In June 2025, Ag-to-Urban was signed into law, which is a potentially transformative development for water sustainability, housing, and economic growth across the state. The program allows landowners who cease agricultural operations to convert their water rights for use in new development. According to the ADWR, up to 384,000 acres of agricultural land in the Phoenix and Pinal AMAs are eligible for ag-to-urban conversion, representing an area with the potential to support over 1 million new homes. We anticipate the Ag-to-Urban program will help advance our strategic focus on Total Water Management and support growth across our service areas, while also providing expected benefits to the long-term sustainability of the state’s aquifers, including the aquifer beneath the City of Maricopa. The Ag-to-Urban program went into effect on September 26, 2025 and ADWR began accepting applications from landowners the same day.

Other Environmental, Health, and Safety (Including Water Quality) Matters

Our operations also involve the use, storage and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes. For example, our water and wastewater treatment facilities store and use chlorine and other chemicals and generate wastes that require proper handling and disposal under applicable environmental regulations. We could also incur remedial costs in connection with any environmental contamination relating to our operations or facilities, releases or our off-site disposal of wastes. Although we are not aware of any material cleanup or decontamination obligations, the discovery of contamination or the imposition of such obligations arising under relevant federal, state and local laws and regulations in the future could result in additional costs. Our facilities and operations also are subject to requirements under the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Act and similar laws in Arizona.

Our compliance with all of the environmental, health and safety (including water quality) requirements described above may be subject to inspections and enforcement measures by federal, state and local agencies.

Security

Due to security, vandalism, terrorism and other risks, we take precautions to protect our employees and the water delivered to our customers. In 2002, federal legislation was enacted that resulted in new regulations concerning security of water facilities, including submitting vulnerability assessment studies to the federal government. We have complied with EPA regulations concerning vulnerability assessments and have made filings to the EPA as required. Vulnerability assessments are conducted regularly to evaluate the effectiveness of existing security controls and serve as the basis for further capital investment in security for the facility. Information security controls are deployed or integrated to prevent unauthorized access to company information systems, assure the continuity of business processes dependent upon automation, ensure the integrity of our data and support regulatory and legislative compliance requirements. In addition, communication plans have been developed as a component of our procedures. While we do not make public comments on the details of our security programs, we have been in contact with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to coordinate and improve the security of our water delivery systems and to safeguard our water supply.

Operations

We treat water to potable standards and also treat, clean, and recycle wastewater for a variety of non-potable uses. A description of these operations follows.

Sources of Water Supply

Our water supplies are primarily derived from groundwater; however, we currently augment these supplies with recycled water and intend to augment them with surface water and increased use of recycled water in the future.

•Potable Water. Our utilities presently employ groundwater systems for potable water production. Water is brought to the surface from underground aquifers (water levels vary from approximately 75 to 700 feet below land surface depending on the area), disinfected and stored in tanks for distribution to customers. In some instances, individual raw water supplies do not meet the legislative requirements for certain constituents. In those cases, we use well-head, centralized, point-of-use and/or blending treatment systems to ensure water quality meets potable standards.

•Recycled Water. Recycled water is created by taking wastewater and applying advanced tertiary treatment (i.e., screening, biological reduction, and filtration and disinfection processes) to create a high quality, non-potable water source. Each step is monitored and controlled in order that the stringent requirements for recycled water are continuously met. Recycled water generated by us meets Arizona’s Aquifer Water Quality Standards before it leaves the treatment facility and is recognized as Class A+, the highest quality of recycled water regulated by the ADEQ.

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Recycled water can be used for irrigation, facilities cooling, and industrial applications and in a residential setting for toilet flushing and lawn watering.

See “Risk Factors—Business and Operational Factors—Inadequate water supplies and wastewater capacity could have a material adverse effect upon our ability to achieve the customer growth necessary to increase our revenue,” included in Part I, Item 1A of this report, for additional information.

Technology

We use sophisticated technology as a principal means of improving our margins. We focus on technological innovations that allow us to deliver high-quality water and customer service with minimal potential for human error, delays, and inefficiencies. The comprehensive technology platform that we use includes supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), AMI, and geographical information system (GIS) technologies, which we use to map and monitor our physical assets and water resources on an automated, real-time basis with fewer people than the standard water utility model requires. Our systems allow us to detect and resolve potential problems promptly, accurately, and efficiently before they become more serious, which both improves customer service and optimizes and extends the efficient performance and life of our assets. The comprehensive technology platform that we use includes AMI technology, which allows us to read water meters remotely rather than physically, improves water resources accounting, allows for identification of high water usage and water theft from disconnected meters. We also use automated voice, internet billing, payment processing, and customer service applications that contribute to additional reduced headcount and a reduction in associated personnel costs.

Decentralized Treatment Facilities

We design and build standard, decentralized facilities that are scaled to the service areas they serve in order to achieve optimum efficiency in providing both water and wastewater service. The replication of our standard facility also improves design, construction and operating efficiency because we are able to employ similar, proven processes and equipment and technologies at each of our facilities.

Although there has not traditionally been a significant economic incentive or other reward for automation and resource efficiency in our industry, we believe our use of automation in lieu of labor, together with our emphasis on streamlined operations and conservation, positions us well for continued profitable growth and allows us to take advantage of future incentives or rewards that may be available to water utilities that are able to successfully enhance the use of renewable resources.

Competition

As an owner and operator of regulated utilities, we do not face competition within our existing service areas because Arizona law provides the holder of a CC&N for water and wastewater service with an exclusive right to provide that service within the ACC-designated service area. In addition, the high cost of constructing water and wastewater systems in an existing market creates a barrier to entry. We do, however, face competition from other water and wastewater utilities for new service areas and with respect to the acquisition of smaller utilities. Our principal competitors for new service areas and acquisitions in Arizona are EPCOR Water Arizona Inc., Arizona Water Company, Central States Water Resources, NW Natural Water Company, LLC, Ullico Inc., Liberty Utilities, Community Water of Arizona and Voyager Water Company. Competition for new service areas and acquisitions is based on relationships with municipalities and developers, experience in making acquisitions, the ability to finance and obtain regulatory approval, quality and breadth of products and services, the ability to integrate both water and wastewater service, and implement conservation practices throughout the service areas, price, speed, and ease of implementation.

If we seek to extend our service outside Arizona, we will face competition from other regional or national water utilities for these opportunities.

Although we compete effectively in our regulated businesses, our competitors may have more resources and experience than we have and may therefore have a competitive advantage.

Seasonality

Customer demand for our water during the warmer months is generally greater than other times of the year due primarily to additional consumption of water in connection with irrigation systems, swimming pools, cooling systems and other outside water use. Throughout the year, and particularly during typically warmer months, demand may vary with temperature, as well as the timing and overall levels of rainfall. In the event that temperatures during the typically warmer months are cooler than normal, or if there is more rainfall than normal, the customer demand for our water may decrease and therefore, adversely affect

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our revenue. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Factors Affecting our Results of Operations—Weather and Seasonality,” included in Part II, Item 7 of this report, for additional information.

Human Capital Resources

Our employees’ significant contributions through innovation and standardization are essential to our realized and continued success. We offer a comprehensive compensation and benefits package to attract and retain top talent. In addition to competitive base wages, additional benefits include share-based compensation, Company matched 401(k) plan, healthcare and insurance benefits, flexible spending accounts and paid time off.

As of December 31, 2025, we employed 126 full-time individuals and 3 part-time employees. This represents an overall increase of four employees, or 3% from December 31, 2024 due primarily to hiring additional employees for the newly acquired water systems from the City of Tucson. Currently, none of our employees participate in collective bargaining agreements, and we consider our employee relations to be good.

Our Corporate History

Global Water Resources, LLC (“GWR”) was organized in 2003 to acquire, own, and manage a portfolio of water and wastewater utilities in the southwestern region of the United States (“U.S.”). Global Water Management, LLC (“GWM”) was formed as an affiliated company to provide business development, management, construction project management, operations, and administrative services to GWR and all of its regulated subsidiaries.

In early 2010, the members of GWR made the decision to raise money through the capital markets, and GWR and GWM were reorganized to form Global Water Resources, Inc., a Delaware corporation. The members established a new entity, GWR Global Water Resources Corp. (“GWRC”), which was incorporated under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) on March 23, 2010 to acquire shares of GWRI’s common stock and to actively participate in its management, business, and operations through its representation on GWRI’s Board of Directors. On December 30, 2010, GWRC completed its initial public offering in Canada and its common shares were listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. On June 5, 2013, the Company sold GWM.

On May 3, 2016, GWRC merged with and into the Company (the “Reorganization Transaction”). At the effective time of the merger, holders of GWRC’s common shares received one share of the Company’s common stock for each outstanding common share of GWRC. As a result of the merger, GWRC ceased to exist as a British Columbia corporation and the Company, governed by the corporate laws of the State of Delaware, was the surviving entity. The Reorganization Transaction was conditional upon the concurrent completion of an initial public offering of shares of common stock of the Company in the U.S., which was completed on May 3, 2016.

Available Information

We maintain an internet website at www.gwresources.com. We electronically file with the SEC our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to such reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), proxy statements and the reports filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act. Copies of these reports and proxy statements are accessible through our website, free of charge, as soon as reasonably practicable after these reports and proxy statements are filed electronically with, or furnished to, the SEC. To access these reports and proxy statements, go to our website at www.gwresources.com. The foregoing information regarding our website is provided for convenience and the content of our website is not deemed to be incorporated by reference in this report filed with the SEC. The SEC maintains an internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC at www.sec.gov.