"Without this funding . more than 500 households could have been without drinking water within a couple of months," said Supervisor Bruce McPherson at Tuesday's county Board of Supervisors meeting where the grant was formally accepted.
Until about a week ago, the company, long plagued by leaks and outages, had been trucking in about five to 10 loads of water every day just to keep its customers afloat despite the high cost and inefficiency of such a system. Each load contains 4,000 gallons of water.
The meeting will be hosted by 5th District Santa Cruz County Supervisor Bruce McPherson who represents Boulder Creek, where the company is based, and the broader San Lorenzo Valley region. The company's court-appointed receiver, Silver and Wright LLP, will also be featured at the meeting.
Santa Cruz County officials told the Sentinel Monday the county was stepping in with short-term funding to ensure the system stays up and running and shared the same in a message to Big Basin customers on Friday using its emergency communications platform, Cruz Aware.
"I don't take this appointment lightly," said Judge Timothy Volkmann to a courthouse crowd of roughly 30, many of whom were Big Basin customers. "There's ample evidence to appoint a receiver."