A recent decision from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California clarifies the plaintiff’s burden of proof in citizen suits brought under the Clean Water Act (CWA). In the long-running Environmental Protection Information Center v. Pacific Lumber Company

(EPIC) case, Judge Marilyn Hall Patel’s recent decision denying the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment illuminates precisely what a citizen plaintiff must show to carry its burden of proving that alleged discharges are from a “point source” and go to “navigable waters.