Suggested Guidelines for Purchasing, Bidding, and
Contracting for Washington State Conservation Districts

Conservation districts are formed under the aegis of Chapter 89.08 RCW, which establishes a framework for how districts are formed and their general powers. This Guidelines ( 1.28 MB) document is based almost entirely on policy guidance developed by Washington State Conservation Commission staff in 2003, updated for current Washington State purchasing and public works contracting statutes.

These guidelines explain general practices and procedures a conservation district is required to use when acquiring goods and/or services to accomplish grant projects using Conservation Commission funding. It also includes an explanation of public works and prevailing wage statutes and how they apply to conservation districts.

Conservation districts will also want to adopt and utilize MRSC’s 2009 Small Public Works Roster Manual for Local Governments: Second Edition ( 2.93 MB), Revised May 2009 (Updated 10/30/09). They will also want to look at (and contribute to) the online Purchasing, Bidding, and Contract Management Sourcebook, which contains sample and model documents for a wide variety of purchasing, bidding, and public works contracting scenarios.