Methodology

Indicators

• NOAA's Coastal Indicators Information Exchange provides descriptions and links to a wide variety of transnational, national, resource-specific and state efforts to develop and use coastal indicators to measure and improve the health of our coasts.
  
  
• A National Core Coastal Indicators Workshop was held May 1-2, 2007 at the Conference Center at the Maritime Institute Linthicum Heights, Maryland. The National Core Coastal Indicators Workshop brought together experts on indicators from federal and state agencies, regional indicator groups, non-governmental organizations, coastal industries, and universities. The primary purpose of the invitation-only workshop was to solicit input on a set of national core coastal indicators that could be used to tell a more coordinated and comprehensive story about the state of the Nation’s coasts. Here is the Workshop Report. The organizers of the workshop were the Coastal States Organization (CSO), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
  
  
• National Coastal Management Performance Measurement System, Northeast CZM Partners Workshop, October 5 - 7, 2005, Virginia Beach, Virginia
  
  
• The Heinz Center's The Coastal Zone Management Act: Developing a Framework for Identifying Performance Measures and Indicators. Developing a set of measurable outcomes for coastal programs that can be linked to annual budget allocations and that can be part of a broader effort to foster 'results-based management' is a high priority at all levels of government. Coastal managers must be able to assess coastal issues and trends effectively and efficiently, set goals for the protection and improvement of resources, and monitor the success of implemented management strategies. The goal of this study was to identify shared national and state coastal resource goals, based on the objectives of the Coastal Zone Management Act, and to develop a framework for results-based management utilizing performance. This framework will be an effective tool to provide information on local, regional, and national trends or issues affecting the coast, will assist coastal managers in improving internal management of their programs, and will showcase accomplishments and potential needs of specific state programs. Also see http://www.heinzctr.org/Programs/SOCW/coastal_zone.shtml.
  
  For more information contact:
  Sheila David
  sdavid@heinzctr.org
  
  
• The Coastal States Organization (CSO) has released the white paper Coastal Community Resilience: An Evaluation of Resilience as a Potential Performance Measure of the Coastal Zone Management Act (July 2008)(PDF, 265 KB). Developed by CSO staff and CSO’s Coastal Resilience Steering Committee, the paper demonstrates the value of resilience to coastal management and offers concrete recommendations for enhancing resilience at the state and local level. For more information on coastal community resilience, contact Kim Collini at kcollini@coastalstates.org.
  
  
• Ecological Indicators for the Nation, National Research Council, 2000.
  http://www.nap.edu/books/0309068452/html/
  
  
• The Heinz Center's 2002 State of the Nation's Ecosystems report used indicators to describe the use and condition of America's "lands, waters, and living resources." Chapter 5 of the report describes "Indicators of the Condition and Use of Coasts and Oceans." Many studies consider a much broader "coastal zone," which includes areas with significant populations that affect the coast, or from which drainage flows to the coast. This report focuses on the narrow strip of land that borders these waters. The State of the Nation’s Ecosystems 2008 Report is now available.
  
  
• The H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment has published a report titled Filling the Gaps: Priority Data Needs and Key Management Challenges for National Reporting on Ecosystem Condition. The report identifies areas where adequate environmental data are lacking and recommends that attention be given to filling the gaps. Data gaps in the report included:
  
  • Analyzing remote sensing land-cover data
  • Reporting on species and communities at risk of extinction of loss
  • Measuring the extend and impact of non-native species
  • Assessing the condition of plant and animal communities
  • Determining the condition of riparian areas and stream habitat
  • Reporting on groundwater levels
  The report also concluded that the current system for collecting and reporting environmental data is fragmented because government agencies and other organization collect data according to their own mandates, missions, interests and resources.
  
  
• Other Heinz Center publications
  
  
• The EPA recently (April 2007) released a draft of the third National Coastal Condition Report, an environmental report card on the condition of the nation's coastal waters. The report primarily evaluates estuaries. The report was developed in collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Geological Survey, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It will allow EPA to monitor the progress of ongoing coastal water quality protection programs, analyze trends, and identify data gaps. The 2007 report, as well as the first report, released in 2001, and the second report, released in 2005, are available at: http://www.epa.gov/owow/oceans/nccr/
  
  The number of indicators was reduced from seven in the first report to five in the second report. The eutrophication index (based upon NOAA's study in the first report) was replaced by a water quality index including dissolved oxygen and water clarity, both of which were distinct indicators in the first report. The other indicators -- benthic health, fish tissue contaminants, sediment quality and habitat (coastal wetlands loss) -- continue to be reported, although some of these indicators were modified to include additional data sets and comparisons to regional and sub-regional reference conditions. The draft third report presents three main types of data: 1) coastal monitoring data, 2) offshore fisheries data, and 3) assessment advisory data. For the first time, an analysis of changes over time in estuarine condition from 1990-2002 are presented for the nation´s estuaries and by region.
  
  
• NOAA presented a draft report National Coastal Zone Indicators, An Assessment of Indicator Use and Potential in Five Coastal States at the National Program Managers Meeting in Silver Spring, Maryland in March 2002. The report summarized the results of workshops that were held to determine the current use of indicators and measures that might make sense in the future.
  
  
• The California Environmental Protection Agency, California Resources Agency prepared a report in 2002 Environmental Protection Indicators for California, Understanding Environmental Conditions Through Indicators. Coastal-related indicators discussed in this report include Extent of Coastal Beaches Posted or Closed as a water quality/recreation indicator, Fish Consumption Advisories as a water quality/fish and shellfish indicator, and persistent organic pollutants in harbor seals as a health of aquatic ecosystems indicator. http://www.oehha.ca.gov/multimedia/epic/index.html
  
  
• There is a nice discussion of indicators on the Gulf of Maine Council's Web site. The Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment's EcoSystem Indicator Partnership (ESIP) has released its first online fact sheet, which introduces the selected priority indicators for the Gulf of Maine.
  
  
• The "Indicator Concepts Sites and Reports" Web page from Florida State University.
  http://www.pepps.fsu.edu/EPIC/Concepts.html
  References on this site include:
  - Environmental Defense Fund, Indicators of Progress, 2000. A quick guide to understanding basic concepts of environmental sustainability indicators and benchmarks and why and how they can be applied.
  - Environmental Outcome-Based Management: Using Environmental Goals and Measures in the Chesapeake Bay Program, 1999. The Chesapeake Bay Program's site is considered a model of a results oriented indicator derived management systems.
  
  
• Several publications are available online via the Florida Coastal Management Program web site, including the 150 page Florida Assessment of Coastal Trends (FACT) 2000 report. http://www.dep.state.fl.us/cmp/publications/FACT2000.pdf
  
  This document is a great source of information on beach health indicators in Florida. It describes and reports on what are actually referred to as a series of 'INDICATORS' in areas including biodiversity and natural areas, coastal access, coastal hazards, and community stewardship. It is filled with facts and figures that paint a picture of the state of the beach in Florida.
  
  
• The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Web site's "About My NJ Environment" page
  http://www.state.nj.us/dep/citizen_mynj.html
  This site provides a direct link to indicator measures in the areas of beach water quality and land acquisition, among others. It provides a link to "our goals", which identifies goal and milestones to measure progress.
  
  
• The Virginia Coastal Program has begun an excellent effort to clearly identify coastal goals and objectives and develop a performance indicator system to identify successes and measure progress toward meeting the goals of the program. http://www.deq.virginia.gov/coastal/documents/evaluate.pdf
  
  
• The January 2002 Issue 17 of Coastlines from UMASS Boston, Urban Harbors Institute, 100 Morrissey Blvd., Boston MA 02125-3393 has an article on indicators titled Measuring the Health of the Delaware Estuary.
  
  
• Following the release of Australia: State of the Environment 1996, a set of environmental indicators was developed for use in tracking the condition of Australia's environment, the human activities that affect it and the management of the environment. A set of 75 indicators were derived from the larger set of environmental indicators and identified as core environmental indicators. The core set of indicators was endorsed the Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council (ANZECC) in December 1999. The indicators cover six of the state of the environment reporting themes. Core indicators are being used by the Commonwealth, some states, territories and local governments in their SoE reporting. More recently, Australia Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts has begun compiling both "Section 516A reports" that evaluate environmental performance and contribution to ecologically sustainable development, and "triple bottom line reports" that look at practical measurable social and environmental outcomes, as well as financial matters. Information on these reports and the reports themselves can be viewed here.
  
  
• Information on the use of environmental indicators in Canada can be found at:
  http://www.ec.gc.ca/soer-ree/English/Indicators/default.cfm
  
  
• Information on the use of environmental indicators in New Zealand can be found at:
  http://www.environment.govt.nz/, http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/air/indicators-for-air-fw-land-oct98.pdf and http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/ser/marine-summary-nov98.pdf