Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2022	Mar. 31, 2021
Income Statement [Abstract]
REVENUE	$ 124,302	$ 114,785
Production Expenses:
Purchased water	19,217	15,645
Power	3,080	3,003
Groundwater extraction charges	13,928	15,545
Other production expenses	10,123	9,402
Total production expenses	46,348	43,595
Administrative and general	24,205	20,893
Maintenance	6,695	6,265
Property taxes and other non-income taxes	8,309	7,515
Depreciation and amortization	27,606	23,438
Gain on sale of nonutility properties	(5,450)	0
Total operating expense	107,713	101,706
OPERATING INCOME	16,589	13,079
OTHER (EXPENSE) INCOME:
Interest on long-term debt and other interest expense	(13,729)	(13,439)
Pension non-service cost	949	326
Other, net	995	1,754
Income before income taxes	4,804	1,720
Provision (benefit) for income taxes	1,067	(896)
NET INCOME	3,737	2,616
Other comprehensive (loss) income, net	(181)	38
COMPREHENSIVE INCOME	$ 3,556	$ 2,654
EARNINGS PER SHARE
Basic (usd per share)	$ 0.12	$ 0.09
Diluted (usd per share)	0.12	0.09
DIVIDENDS PER SHARE (usd per share)	$ 0.36	$ 0.34
WEIGHTED AVERAGE SHARES OUTSTANDING
Basic (shares)	30,224,135	28,862,882
Diluted (shares)	30,335,974	28,990,203