Community indicators provide an "early warning system" and measure progress of sustainability initiatives

Abstract

This paper discusses the evolution of the Clark County, Nevada Monitoring Program. This monitoring program is a community indicator system originally designed and implemented in 2005 to establish a baseline, monitor changes over time, and provide an "early warning system" as to the potential and actual impacts of transportation to and storage at a repository for high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel less than 100 miles from Las Vegas, Nevada. Nearly 3,000 community indicators are tracked on a monthly basis and reported quarterly, with indices divided into categories of demographics, fiscal, economic, environmental, public health, and public safety. An annual community survey conducted as part of the monitoring program serves to "ground truth" the assumptions, data, and measures of progress. The information contained in this internet based system (www.monitoringprogram.com) is accessed by a variety of public and private sector groups including government agencies, financial institutions, academics, industry stakeholders, and private citizens in Nevada, across the USA, and in over 100 countries worldwide. Over time, groups outside of the nuclear waste program began to recognize the value in the data being collected and made available on the website. Clark County officials have since adopted the monitoring program as a useful tool for purposes of growth management and sustainability initiatives. Along with a discussion on the evolution of this tool in Clark County, the paper will benchmark Clark County's monitoring program against other similar efforts to monitor and measure indicators within the context of sustainability initiatives. © 2009 WIT Press.