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Following each measure
on this table are three symbols indicating the availability of data for
the measure, the degree of definition or agreement among project participants
on the measure, and whether there are legal, regulatory, or other thresholds
against which the measure can be compared.
Data availability
ratings (  ,
 ,
or  )
indicate whether there are data that are national in scope and provide
historical trends (),
whether there are data with either geographic limitations or a lack
of historical data ("data with significant gaps" - )
or no data ().
The introduction and summary of findings includes additional discussion
on data availability.
Definition or
agreement ratings ( ,
or  )
indicate whether project participants believe the measure is clearly
defined or whether additional concept development is needed. In addition,
there were some cases in which project participants did not reach agreement
on a specific measure. Measures requiring additional conceptual development
or which are the subject of disagreement are marked with a ;
others with a .
The final rating
(
or  )
indicates whether a measure has a societally-recognized threshold against
which a measure may be compared. The only such measure for croplands
is nitrate in streams, for which there are drinking water standards.
Most measures have no such reference point, and are marked with a zero
().
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