Feedback reduction of nonlinear dissipative drift wave fluctuations is studied numerically. A linear feedback term is included in the Hasegawa–Wakatani model and a subsequent Galerkin projection provides a low dimensional model for the nonlinear dynamics near the instability threshold. We show that chaotic fluctuations can be completely suppressed provided that the time delay of the feedback is smaller than the correlation time of the fluctuations. Secondly, the full Hasegawa–Wakatani model is numerically simulated with feedback and it is found that the fluctuation energy of the fully developed drift wave turbulence can be reduced substantially.