Agricultural use of surface water declined by over 90% in the same period, largely because the irrigated area was halved following the privatisation of some irrigation projects. Other factors included lack of investment in irrigation infrastructure and relatively high water prices (Chapter 6). The process was launched in 2003, when responsibility for water management was moved from the Ministry of Agriculture to the MoE. Then the introduction of the Water Act in 2004 harmonised Slovak water legislation with the EU Water Framework Directive and introduced the river basin approach.