and integrated water resources management at the river basin level with a strong emphasis on public investment. In July 2007, Bolivia’s government approved a new National Irrigation Plan, called the "new PRONAR". to be implemented from 2007 to 2030. The preceding National Irrigation program, also called PRONAR, was approved in 1996 and was implemented until 2005. The new PRONAR consist of five major components: (i)support agricultural and forestry production, (ii) support water resources management, (iii) strengthen institutional framework capacities, (iv)increase investment on irrigation and drainage infrastructure, and (v)integral technical assistance, capacity building and research. PRONAR aims at building irrigation infrastructure on 275,000 ha, benefiting 200,000 farmers, with a total investment of US$1.2 billion by 2030. Key Legal Issues that Arise in Irrigation PPPs There are a number of legal and commercial issues that will affect how these projects move forward and are structured. Whilst some of the legal issues are not confined to irrigation PPPs they can take on a new dimension and complexity when applied to irrigation: Land ownership; water extraction; public sector counterpart. These will be key issues in a PPP as the private provider will want to ensure a steady revenue stream. There are also the usual legal considerations that need to be checked when developing PPPs in any sector, such as legal restrictions on the type of PPP arrangement that can be entered into, relevant procurement rules for entering into PPPs, existence of restrictions on foreign investment, taxation and potential for tax holidays and the ability to assign rights such as security and step in rights to lenders. Water tariff and cost recovery Farmers contribute to operational and maintenance costs of irrigation infrastructure both in cash and kind. The Water Ministry estimates that water users contribute with cash to cover maintenance costs in 45% irrigation systems. Irrigation systems such as Guadalupe and Pampa Redonda in Santa Cruz and Chiara in Cochabamba, a total of 10% of all irrigation systems, received any payment for operation costs. For example, in Cochabamba users pay approximately US$4.1 application fee and US$9.6 registration fee. Users pay O&M costs through a day of work or a US$2.7 fine per day of work. Investment and financing In irrigation, there is trend of increasing investment in irrigation, from 132.7 UDS millions in 2001 invested in rural development (including irrigation) to 168.3 USD million in 2002. A large part of these investments were made through