The State of the Basin uses an indicator model to report on the status of well-being in the Basin Boundary region. Indicator reporting is a growing trend among organizations that operate at various geographic scales (from global to neighbourhood-specific) and with varying scopes of interest (from those as broad as well-being to those as specific as financial performance). By distilling complex information into easily understandable measures, indicators help diverse audiences, with widely ranging backgrounds, to understand important trends. As part of the 2013 State of the Basin update, the RDI completed research on best practices in indicator reporting and on lessons learned from the 2008 report development process. This literature review adds context-specific discussion to that research.