Parched California Takes Aim at Water Rate ‘Bounty Hunter’ Suits

California water utilities say a new four-month window for consumers to challenge rate hikes will restrict costly court battles as they face the twin challenges of historic drought and devastating wildfires.

Water and sewer agencies for years have been exposed to lawsuits brought up to a decade after their rates were adopted, said Claire Collins, partner with Hanson Bridgett LLP in Los Angeles. The result has created financial uncertainty and put extraordinary pressure on agencies to modify rates in light of the ever-changing standards articulated by courts—something that a new law is intended to help alleviate.

“These types of cases ...