The Challenge
Patterson Irrigation District (PID) is an essential water resource agency in Western Stanislaus County, managing senior water rights and infrastructure that supports approximately 800 local agricultural customers. Despite its long history of service, PID faced significant communication barriers: it had no social media presence, an outdated website and no formal communications strategy.
To address these challenges, PID engaged Tripepi Smith to assess PID’s existing communications platforms and develop a roadmap for improving community outreach. The District’s primary goals were to build customer trust, increase transparency and counter misinformation.
Our Approach
Tripepi Smith began the partnership with a comprehensive Platforms Review, interviewing key personnel and evaluating PID’s existing communications channels against best practices for public agencies.
Building on those findings, Tripepi Smith developed a Strategic Communications Plan that defined PID’s target audiences, identified key themes — including budget transparency, the Capital Improvement Plan and PID’s history — and outlined a phased roadmap for creating new communications channels. The plan addressed how to reach PID’s core audiences, including local agricultural customers, the Spanish-speaking community and regional media, while also accounting for the reality of limited staff capacity.
With a strategic foundation in place, Tripepi Smith partnered with the District in refining its communications presence beginning with two primary digital fronts:
- Website Redesign: The team spearheaded a full migration from PID’s legacy Joomla content management system to a robust WordPress platform. The newly launched site replaced a decade-old layout with a vibrant, mobile-responsive design. Key upgrades included a rebuilt information architecture (covering Transparency, Governance and Resources), retrofitted ADA accessibility elements (alt-text, color contrast and intuitive navigation) and a dedicated project page for the East-West Conveyance Capital Improvement Project, complete with engaging video content. Tripepi Smith continues to provide ongoing webmaster support to keep the platform dynamic and current.
- Social Media Launch: To establish PID’s social media footprint, Tripepi Smith developed a Social Media Strategic Plan tailored to the District’s mission and target demographics. Tripepi Smith then established branded profiles, drafted and published an initial wave of 18 posts, applied ADA Title II accessibility standards ahead of upcoming federal deadlines and built a seasonal content calendar. Finally, the team delivered a comprehensive Social Media Guide to empower PID staff to manage the channels autonomously moving forward.
Results
The partnership between PID and Tripepi Smith transformed the District’s communications infrastructure across numerous channels.
Through a website redesign, PID achieved an ADA-aligned, mobile-responsive platform, replacing a site that had not been significantly updated in over a decade. With the integration of Google Analytics, PID now has baseline data to track traffic and user behavior for the first time. Since its launch, the website has welcomed more than 4,300 visitors and has strengthened the District’s visibility across search engines, helping more residents find the information they need online with over 70,000 appearances in search engine results.
PID also launched its first-ever social media presence with official Facebook and Instagram pages, building a foundation of quality, engaging content.
Tripepi Smith’s engagement empowered District staff with a full communications strategy, a modern website, an accessibility framework and a social media playbook — providing staff with everything they need to manage and grow these platforms independently. Staff are now equipped with hands-on training and a content calendar that will shape future messaging.
What began as a platform assessment has grown into a multi-year communications partnership, laying the groundwork for PID to build credibility, transparency and lasting community trust online, with the tools and training in place to keep that momentum going.
