Hasan ÖZLÜ۱ - Operation and Management Department Head, DSI, Turkey
Öner YORULMAZ - Agriculture Engineer, DSI, Turkey
Şaban Aydın AYTAÇ۳ - Agriculture Engineer, DSI, Turkey

Irrigation is very significant issue in dry or semi dry regions like Turkey in order to supply adequate food production for the country. The main task is to manage properly irrigation system developed by government. Like in many countries, irrigation projects have been developed and managed by government organizations in past several decades. At the begining of 1990s, government changed the policy that might be called reform which transfers operation and maintenance responsibility of irrigation schemes to local authorities. Up to present, Turkey developed slightly more than half of its total potential irrigable area (8.5 million ha). Taking part in the management responsibility of irrigation schemes, users organized as Water Users Organization (WUO) and took the responsibility of the management from the central government. The logic behind the transfer is to enable efficiency in terms of cost of Operation and Maintenance and higher quality of service in irrigation water distribution. This was to be achieved by the participation of water users. This paper describes the program and assess its effectiveness from a national perspective. The assessment includes changes in staffing levels, operational costs, service fee levels and cost recovery from farmers.

Irrigation Management Transfer, Water User Association, Participatory Irrigation Management, Monitoring and Evaluation