The clear solution to this dilemma lies with making irrigated agriculture a more efficient user of water. There are many possible means for reducing agricultural water demand by increasing the economic productivity of water. Central to strategies for increasing productivity will be the pairing of the most appropriate and efficient crops with given sites and climates. Thus, for example, rice will rarely be an appropriate crop to grow in the desert. Additionally, improvements in on-farm management of agricultural water, both through utilization of advanced irrigation technology and improved irrigation scheduling, offer the prospect of significant increases in productivity. In addition, moisture-stressing crops at strategic points in the life cycle or annual cycle offers the possibility of high-quality yields with minimal reductions in quantity. In short, the prospects for improving agricultural water management are large and entail both the use of existing scientific information and the pursuit of new information through research.