When the conditions permit, large discs pulled by tractors will cut and turn the plants under. The discs will be pulled over the plants many times to expose and kill the roots. Then after discing, water will be drawn from nearby impoundments and C-7 will be flooded very high with two pumps. This will be true, but remember the main effort is to provide open marsh habitat with a sparse mix of low growing plants and a healthy invertebrate and fish population. Here are a few reasons why this often used method works well in most areas of the country.
Deep water can retard light penetration.
Any cut up plant pieces will float to the surface and act as a physical barrier to sunlight. Without sunlight plants cannot conduct a chemical reaction called photosynthesis. Without this chemical reaction, plants cannot survive. Deep, long term flooding will assist in achieving this by depriving them of large quantities of carbon dioxide which they need to photosynthesize. In the recent past, flooding for over two months duration was quite beneficial.