  We have developed a simple, static model designed to place a very solid lower
limit on the star formation rate (SFR) expected in a dwarf disk galaxy, which
leads to the prediction of a previously undocumented relation between HI mass,
M_HI, and SFR. Over the mass range 10^8--10^10 M_sun, a wide variety of
galaxies are observed to follow such a relation -- SFR ~ M_HI^1.4 -- with the
same slope and similar scatter to our prediction. Within the model, this
relation is a manifestation of self-regulating star formation (SF), in which
the ISM is kept warm and stable by a UV interstellar radiation field (ISRF)
that is maintained by constant regeneration of O--B stars. Regardless of the
actual mode of star formation, it seems that the majority of dwarfs are
presently forming stars in the same way.
