California Water Wars’ Lawyer Fee Fight Returns to Trial Court

Long-running litigation in a California water wars case—this time over attorneys’ fees—won’t be getting state Supreme Court attention.

The court without comment Wednesday declined to review an appellate ruling that awarded $2.5 million in fees and costs to a class led by landowner Richard A. Wood.

The underlying case is a fight over who gets first dibs on water withdrawals from an aquifer involving 18,000 landowners in Southern California, including the federal government. The class won and sought fees.

The appeals court held Wood demonstrated errors in the trial court’s fee analysis and returned the case to the California ...