Big Basin Water Secures $850,000 Grant

Serviam by Wright LLP, the court-appointed receiver to Big Basin Water Company (BBWC) has secured an $850,000 state grant from the California Department of Water Resources’ Small Community Drought Relief Program. The funding has been awarded to help assure access to safe drinking water for the Boulder Creek community served by BBWC for the immediate future.

“This funding, which my office has worked to secure for many months alongside State and County officials, helps address some but not all of the operational deficiencies facing the Big Basin drinking water system,” said Serviam’s Nicolas Jaber, attorney and project manager for the court-appointed receiver overseeing Big Basin Water Company. “The grant also funds overdue retrofits for failing infrastructure and key engineering and investigative efforts, which will provide the foundation for a transition of ownership and control to a responsible entity. On behalf of Big Basin’s drinking water customers, I express my gratitude for this critical showing of support.”

The grant can be used for expenditures incurred between October 31, 2023 and December 31, 2024. The program was created by the Budget Act of 2021.

“This funding is good news for Big Basin customers, but we still have a long way to go as we work together for permanent and positive change,” Supervisor Bruce McPherson said. “I’d like to thank the state and members of our delegation who advocated for this grant, including Sen. John Laird and Assemblymember Gail Pellerin.”

BBWC is a privately owned utility now operating under receivership which was obtained by the State Water Resources Control Board and Office of the Attorney General due to water outages, chronic supply shortfalls, and substandard infrastructure.

Efforts to resolve the problems of safe, adequate, and reliable drinking water supply for the BBWC district have been supported by the County’s Office of Response, Recovery & Resilience.