Another proposed dam is the Baardhere dam on the Juba river, primarily for hydropower, but which should also provide maximum water control and storage in the Juba Valley irrigation projects. In the main irrigated areas in the Juba and Shebelli valleys, there is no organized system of water allocation and management and there is a salinity problem. Irrigation is practised mostly along the Shebelli and Juba rivers. For irrigation water management and drainage, services are almost non-existent. Farmers, individually or in groups, abstract water from rivers or canals regardless of crop rotation or crop water needs.
Water use is governed by proximity to the distribution outlet and extraction upstream.
Official statistics show, for the period 1970-1986, a slight decrease in area and a static yield for bananas, while there was an increase in area and a considerable drop in yield for sugar cane. This can be attributed mainly to the increasing drainage problems and soil salinity at the Jowhar sugar estate on the Shebelli river. In irrigated areas, maize yields remained low because of the inefficient irrigation system, limited availability of research, the absence of higher yielding varieties, and a shortage of inputs. For the long term, the construction of the Duduble reservoir, to control the Shebelli river, and the Baardhere dam on the Juba river were planned. However, even with the completion of the Duduble reservoir, the water availability would still be limited in quantity and quality due to the salinity problem.