Advisory Board: SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION
Subject: Progress Report on Dashboard for Climate Action and Adaptation Plan
Department: Conservation and Development
Presenter: Jody London, Sustainability Coordinator
Contact: 925-655-2815, jody.london@dcd.cccounty.us <mailto:jody.london@dcd.cccounty.us>
Referral History and Update:
The County’s Sustainability Team prepares an annual report on progress in meeting the goals in the County’s Climate Action Plan. Members of the Sustainability Commission have suggested over the years that the County should also maintain an online dashboard that provides updates on climate action progress in a graphic format.
In November 2024, the Board of Supervisors adopted the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan <https://www.contracosta.ca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/84967/Contra-Costa-County-2024-Climate-Action-and-Adaptation-Plan-PDF?bidId=> (“CAAP”). This provides a good opportunity to explore again how best to structure a CAAP dashboard.
Staff received a suggestion from a member of the Sustainability Commission that the dashboards for Issaquah, Washington <https://www.issaquahwa.gov/3348/Climate-Action-Plan-Dashboard>, Fremont, California <https://www.fremont.gov/government/citywide-initiatives/data-dashboards/climate-action-dashboard>, and San Diego, California <https://climatedashboard.sandiego.gov/indicators/2320> could be good models. Both Issaquah and Fremont use the same underlying web platform as the County, CivicPlus, so looking at their dashboards gives an idea of how a dashboard for Contra Costa County might display and work with the capabilities of the County’s existing website.
Contra Costa County has the ability in-house to develop a CAAP dashboard. The County’s Department of Information Technology (“DoIT”) has developed a dashboard for Measure X <https://www.contracosta.ca.gov/10249/Measure-X-Community-Impact> expenditures using the Power BI platform, the same platform that Issaquah and Fremont use. Sustainability staff are in conversation with DoIT about setting up a CAAP dashboard.
Staff have consulted with jurisdictions that maintain dashboards, including the City of San Jose, the County of Ventura, and the City of Issaquah. These meetings provided valuable information about the opportunities and challenges associated with creating and maintaining dashboards. Some key learnings include:
• There can be a significant commitment of staff time and funding necessary to develop and maintain a dashboard.
• It is important that the underlying spreadsheets that populate the dashboard be designed so they can be easily updated. This is particularly important when the inputs are coming from multiple departments.
• Some jurisdictions devote significant staff time to maintaining their dashboard, depending on the complexity of the platform and number of measures tracked.
The fact that the County already has access to Power BI and DoIT staff who are interested and available to help set up a CAAP dashboard will facilitate this work.
Of the many climate action strategies in the CAAP, 11 directly contribute to reductions in GHG emissions. The remaining strategies are supporting. The Sustainability Commission can assist staff by identifying those measures that should be included in the dashboard. See Attachment A for a list of the potential measures that could be tracked in a dashboard.
Staff are aiming to have a first version of the dashboard by the end of the year.
Recommendation(s)/Next Step(s):
RECEIVE Progress Report on Dashboard for Climate Action and Adaptation Plan and PROVIDE SUGGESTIONS
Fiscal Impact (if any):
Establishing and maintaining a dashboard will create costs, primarily for staff time to develop, update, and maintain the dashboard. These costs will accrue primarily to the Department of Information Technology and the Department of Conservation and Development, although all departments that have a role in implementing the CAAP will need to assign staff to work on monitoring and reporting on progress.