The transfer of the management responsibility of the irrigation schemes to farmers gained momentum in 1993. The size of transferred irrigation facilities reached 1.7 million hectares by the end of 2002. This figure corresponds to about 90 percent of total irrigated area developed by State Hydraulic Works (DSI). The operation and maintenance activities (O&M) may be transferred to village legal entities, municipalities, unions and cooperatives. Irrigation associations (IAs) have a prominent place in terms of both total size of land and average irrigated area. The main underlying reason for the acceleration of the transfers was the unsustainable financial burden of the O&M for DSI. The O&M cost recovery of DSI was around 40 percent before the acceleration of the transfers. Several encouraging results are observed following the transfers: The participatory approach has generated a sense of responsibility in allocating the available water; Irrigation efficiency has increased; Energy consumption for pump irrigation has decreased; Irrigation ratios have been considerably higher in transferred irrigation schemes compared to DSI managed projects.