The Mower Soil and Water Conservation District will finish the year with three more completed wetland restorations under its belt after completing a project Monday.

Justin Hanson, Mower SWCD resource specialist, along with contractors, completed a roughly 30-acre project that will act like a three-stage water filter on a farm just northwest of Austin. It’s one more project in which local farmers have turned soggy fields into natural filters. Hanson and a crew of contractors remove farm tile from underground and create earth embankments to hold back water. Then, natural grasses can grow and eventually trap sediments before they get into ditches and rivers where they decrease water quality.

“They’re a good barrier between whatever is downstream,” Hanson said about wetland restorations.

On this farm northwest of Austin, sediments were entering a ditch that eventually carries water to the Cedar River, Hanson said. Now, the earth is built so high-water events will filter through three large areas before entering the ditch. Like the other projects, it’s a stepping stone to cleaning up the waterways in the watershed.

“One little project at a time,” Hanson said.

He and others completed a wetland restoration near County Road 1 and Highway 218 last week, along with another near Dexter several months ago.

Hanson emphasized the fact the wetland restorations have been on a volunteer basis, so it’s a matter if farmers will part with some dollars from their crops. By receiving money from a federal farm program coupled with state funding, private landowners can enroll fields in these projects and get part compensation for what they will lose by harvesting crops in those areas.

Hanson said completing three area wetland restorations in 2011 was good progress, as federal and state funding still can’t compete with grain prices. When grain prices are down, Hanson is able to enroll more farmers in these projects; however, he suspects there will be just one project for next year. And he isn’t sure what lies beyond 2012.

“We’re going to have to just get creative with what we do for a few years,” Hanson said about drawing federal and state funding and finding more projects.

Though Mower SWCD may not enroll many farmers in conservation practices next year, its members are excited about the future benefits of its wetland restorations. Hanson said Mower SWCD is now able to track how much water flow is reduced on each site, which will show the potential benefits to the Cedar River and other water bodies. That may offer some solace, as Hanson is impressed with the projects he and crews have completed thus far.

“I think we’ve done some really good projects the last few years,” he said.