Measuring Progress toward Our Environmental Goals
Each environmental goal has one or more primary indicators that we use to measure progress. We recognize that each indicator may support several of the City's environmental goals, but we have chosen to show each indicator only once on this matrix and associate each goal with its primary indicators.
For each indicator, we have assessed where we think we are now, based on the information available. We have assigned the color red, yellow, or green to indicate that we are currently in Poor, Fair, or Good condition, respectively, with regard to this indicator. Similarly, we have assigned an upward, downward, or level arrow to designate whether an indicator is "getting better", "getting worse", or "stable". For example, we looked at "Days of Unhealthy Air" based on the Air Quality Index (AQI). Because we have relatively few "unhealthy" days, we colored the indicator green. Because the number of unhealthy days has been decreasing over time, we used the "up" arrow to show that the indicator appears to be continuing to improve or "getting better". Some indicators have question marks because no data are available.
There are many different ways to measure our progress. These indicators have been chosen because they:
- demonstrate our regulatory compliance (e.g., National Ambient Air Quality Standards);
- demonstrate our use of a resource (e.g., water and energy use); and/or
- demonstrate our community choices (e.g., recycling, greenbelt purchases)
It is likely that this set of indicators will change over time based on new information, your suggestions, or our ability to measure progress in new areas.
Click on any of the indicators names below for more information on that indicator's data and and analysis.
For more information on the creation of the report, report goals, and the role of the City in Environmental Management, read the Acknowledgements and History and Welcome from the Environmental Commission.