Irrigation expansion has become vital to agricultural development in the major rice-growing countries over the last 10-15 years. As part of its efforts to increase irrigation efficiency and eliminate the technical, economic, and socio-institutional problems that impede rice production, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) hosted a workshop on Irrigation Water Management held at IRRI, March 26-30, 1979. The topics covered at the workshop, the proceedings of which are here presented, were: (1) managing canal irrigation in the 1980's; (2) hardware and software combinations in irrigation management; (3) an economic analysis to support irrigation investment and management decisions; (4) solving irrigation system management problems; (5) studies in water management economics at IRRI; and (6) selected research findings in water allocation, distribution, and use criteria for irrigation system design and management. Among the workshop's recommendations in engineering- and management-related research were: (1) identify data needed to improve irrigation system design and management; (2) find efficient alternatives to effect irrigation water savings; (3) find ways to justly divide responsibility between agency personnel and farmers; and (4) study the relative benefits of small, medium, and large systems. Socio-institutional research recommendations included: (1) continuing on-the-job training in research; (2) creating a data base available to individuals, organizations, and governments; and (3) coordinating economic consequences programs with water management programs to determine the effect of irrigation on future population growth in rural areas, the man-land ratio, on-farm employment, the environmental impact of irrigation, and inequities between rain fed and irrigated areas. Lastly, recommendations regarding economics- and investment-related research were to develop: (1) a post project evaluation handbook; (2) methodologies for estimating employment and income effects of irrigation projects; (3) a cost/benefit analysis of different distributional and on-farm irrigation facilities; and (4) a procedure to determine the economic and operational factors for conjunctive use of surface and groundwater.