Santa Cruz County is getting state money to help bring safe drinking water to customers in the Santa Cruz Mountains. On Tuesday, the county announced they are receiving an $850,000 state grant to help assure access to safe drinking water for the community served by Big Basin Water Company. The emergency one-time grant was sought in response to the urgent drinking water supply, safety and reliability situation faced by customers of Big Basin Water. The privately owned utility is now operated under a court-appointed receiver, Serviam by Wright LLP. The receivership was sought by the county and obtained by the State Water Resources Control Board and the Attorney General due to water outages, chronic supply shortfalls, and substandard infrastructure. The funding may be used to address system deficiencies, including drinking water shortages and necessary system upgrades.