Strategic Communications for Municipal NPDES Compliance

The Challenge

The City of Salinas needed to implement major changes to its stormwater management program to meet National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit requirements. The challenge: educating residents in socio-economically disadvantaged neighborhoods about new parking restrictions and increased street sweeping frequency, while building community buy-in for these regulatory changes.

Our Approach

CPRA Strategies developed and executed a comprehensive, multi-channel communications strategy focused on 4,148 households in East Salinas. Working closely with city staff, we designed a three-phase community engagement campaign that combined grassroots outreach with digital and traditional media:

  • Phase I: Convene, collaborate, and capacity build with community stakeholders

  • Phase II: Educate and motivate through targeted messaging and materials

  • Phase III: Deploy and activate concentrated outreach in priority neighborhoods

We partnered with local community-based organizations, faith leaders, businesses, and neighborhood influencers to amplify our message and ensure culturally appropriate, language-accessible communications.

What We Did

  • Conducted 10 in-person community events, engaging directly with 3,029 residents

  • Created and deployed 125+ pieces of digital and print collateral, including bilingual PSAs, flyers, door hangers, postcards, and mailings

  • Developed a comprehensive social media strategy averaging 3 posts per month

  • Produced a viral 13-second video that became the city's highest-performing social media post ever

  • Implemented targeted direct mail campaign reaching all 4,148 households in priority areas

Results

  • 800,000+ organic social media impressions with 4.5% engagement rate

  • 300,000+ views on single viral video across Facebook and Instagram

  • 233% increase in monthly website visits (496 to 1,653 visitors)

  • Unanimous City Council approval of new street sweeping routes and parking restrictions

  • Successful 90-day pilot program leading to full implementation

The city successfully launched its enhanced stormwater management program, achieving NPDES compliance objectives while maintaining strong community support. The program continues to protect local waterways by reducing pollutant discharge from urban runoff.

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