Minnesota Waterfowl Association

Examples of wetland restorations being completed on RIM WRP sites.

This is a before picture showing the outlet ditch of a drained lake.  The lake is drained by a large county ditch that was dug in 1915.  The lake will be restored in the summer of 2013.  The restored lake will be about 200 acres in size and the average depth will be 3-4 feet.

This classic pothole was restored with the combination of an embankment and ditch fill.  The tall Cottonwood trees were removed to eliminate predator perches.  The surrounding uplands are planned for native prairie seeding.

This site in Becker County was restored back to a type III open water marsh.  The wetland was drained with a large drainage ditch, but was still too wet to farm and became choked with cattail.  An embankment was built to hold the water in the basin.  The hills surrounding the basin were seeded to native prairie.

This ditch plug and tile break in Mahnomen County was constructed in the fall of 2010.  The end result is a 2 acre restored pothole.

The below wetland in Becker County was previously drained with a large ditch.  After the restoration, it is a beautiful open water marsh.

This seasonal depression was restored by removing sediment and also plugging the shallow drainage ditch.  These seasonal depressions are key to spring waterfowl habitat.  During the spring, these wetlands will be full from snow melt, and by August they will usually be dry.