Action Agenda Progress Indicators (“Progress Indicators”) are a suite of measures that track the human activities that influence ecosystem conditions in Puget Sound. Progress Indicators track the implementation of the Puget Sound Action Agenda (“Action Agenda”) and provide feedback on the collective performance of Puget Sound recovery efforts. With Progress Indicators and their trends, we can help to improve the effectiveness of recovery investments.

Progress Indicators are: 

Key characteristics of Progress Indicators.

How are the Progress Indicators related to Puget Sound Indicators and Targets? 

The Puget Sound Indicators are a collection of interconnected measures that together tell the story of Puget Sound recovery progress. They are comprised of Progress Indicators and Vital Sign Indicators.

The Action Agenda calls for numerous strategies and actions to help protect and restore Puget Sound. Progress Indicators evaluate human activities called for in the Action Agenda (example: miles of levees removed (in dev.)), while Vital Sign Indicators measure the condition and trends of critical ecosystem components (example: acres of floodplains in functional condition). Progress Indicators can help us understand whether management efforts, investments, and policy decisions are occurring at an adequate rate and scale to improve the Vital Signs.

A subset of Progress Indicators have or will have targets. Targets articulate our desired future and define what success looks like for different aspects of our Puget Sound recovery efforts. Targets can help assess the effectiveness of our collective efforts, focus actions, and motivate change. When targets are developed collectively and with justification, they serve as an important accountability mechanism.

How are Progress Indicators used? 

Progress Indicator data and analyses will provide a critical foundation for adaptively managing the Action Agenda. Reviewing Indicator trends can help recovery partners understand their impact, plan additional projects, target areas or activities for intervention, and invest more efficiently in topics that need attention.

Progress Indicator data and analyses can inform adaptive management by

• Affirming the need to accelerate funding or scale-up key programs, actions, or policies driving changes in the Indicator;
• Determining that a key issue is being adequately managed, and that existing levels of funding and effort should be sustained; or
• Illuminating persistent barriers that must be addressed or that require novel strategies or policies.

A visual depiction of example actions the Partnership and recovery community can take depending on the trends of Progress Indicators. The conversations and analyses sparked by Progress Indicators can help inform the next cycle of the Action Agenda planning to improve strategies and actions. 

The table below describes how Progress Indicators can be positively affected by ecosystem-friendly behaviors emerging from key factors like funding, capacity, and supportive policy.

Resources

• Background information
  • Action Agenda Progress Indicators fact sheet
  • Puget Sound Indicators fact sheet
  • Vital Sign Indicators website and fact sheet
  • Ongoing Program Targets
  • Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
• Puget Sound recovery information
  • Action Agenda Explorer
  • State of the Sound
  • State of Salmon
  • State of Our Watersheds
  • Strategic Initiative Leads and Implementation Strategies
  • National Estuary Programs

Contact Us

For questions or more information, please contact Beihua Page (Adaptive Systems Lead, Beihua.Page@psp.wa.gov) or Laura Vary (Monitoring Data Coordinator, Laura.Vary@psp.wa.gov).