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Regional Dashboard

Methodology

  • Population: 2010 census data were used to calculate per capita numbers in this report, unless otherwise noted.  It is important to note that actual census numbers were lower than estimated population projections made from the 2000 census used to calculate per capita figures in previous Dashboard reports. This resulted in historic per capita numbers having to be recalculated for a number of indicators. 
  • Water Consumption: The Municipal and Industrial (M&I) water use data does not include recycled or certified agricultural water usage.  Some district customers use non-certified water for agriculture which may increase a district’s M&I usage.                 
  • Water Quality:
    • In previous years, Equinox excluded closures considered “chronic” by the County of San Diego from the “Beach Advisories & Closures” chart.  For 2010, the County was unable to provide us with that data so all closures and advisories were included, increasing the number of closures significantly from previous years.   The difficulty in obtaining data for this indicator points to the challenge that difficult economic times and budget cuts have presented when it comes to monitoring progress of indicators over time.  
    • The benchmark data from the 2011 Heal the Bay Beach Report Card refers to monitored beaches during dry weather.
  • Residential Land Use: land use numbers for “Change In Population vs. in Residential Land Use” chart are from mid-year 2010, as the updated figures from SANDAG  were not ready prior to publication.
  • Housing Affordability: For the “Designated Affordable Housing Units by Jurisdiction” chart, we calculated the population that could actually qualify for affordable housing instead of using a simple per capita figure.  SANDAG’s Profile Warehouse was used to find the median household income (adjusted for inflation) for each jurisdiction and then we summed the number of households whose incomes (also adjusted for inflation) fell at or below this value.  In cases where the median household income fell within a range whose minimum value was below the median household income but maximum value was above the median household income, the entire number of households within that range was counted.  Unfortunately, without knowing the exact income of each household, there is no way to overcome this problem.
    Additional Notes on Specific Jurisdictional Data for “Designated Affordable Housing Units” chart.
    • National City: Reported units appear to have  increased substantially from the previous year due to an error in data entry.  National City actually added 6 new units since last year.                                            
    • San Diego: The number of units was adjusted down from last year, because several thousand properties that were funded through the First Time Home Buyers & Owner Occupied Rehab Program's had previously been incorrectly included. These programs provide one-time financial assistance and are not actual Affordable Housing Units.                                   
    • Unincorporated (SD County): SD County was also underreported last year, due to an error in data entry.
    • The “Percent of Occupants Spending 30% or More of Income on Housing” chart should read the “Percent of Households Spending 30% or More of Income on Housing”. In addition, it has come to our attention that last year’s chart using “35%” was mislabeled.  The data included last year was also the percent of households spending 30% or more of income on housing.
    • The Housing Affordability Benchmark uses an average of Q1 and Q2 2011 figures as full year figures were not available before the Dashboard went to publication.
  • Clean Jobs: CONNECT data includes only high-tech environmental companies and jobs. We acknowledge that the data provides a limited picture of clean jobs in the region because it does not include other low-tech or affiliated environmental jobs, including installers, construction, sales reps or other jobs that could be considered clean economy jobs as well.
  • Residential Electricity:
    • On the “Kilowatts of Solar Installed Per 100 Residents” chart, the totals do not include new solar homes partnership (NSHP) installs or SDG&E 'smart community' owned systems.
    • A new source of data, the California Energy Commission’s Energy Data Consumption System, was used for this indicator.  Previous year’s used SDG&E Demand Forecast Forms.  All historical numbers were adjusted accordingly to use the new source.
    • Although CA Building Standards (Title 24, Part 6, of the California Code of Regulations) were first adopted by the Energy Commission in 1977 and put into effect in 1978, the 1982 Building Standards were the first to include energy performance requirements.
      (Source: http://www.energy.ca.gov/2005publications/CEC-400-2005-039/CEC-400-2005-039-CMF.PDF)
    • Residential Electricity: To determine the number of homes in San Diego County built prior to the 1982 Building Standards, Equinox used SANDAG numbers for total housing stock in San Diego County and then extrapolated from data published in the CEC 2005 Options for Energy Efficiency in Existing Buildings report and applied it to homes in the San Diego region, assuming the proportions would be roughly similar.
  • Waste: We include Exported, AIC, and ADC in the totals used to generate our charts & figures.