Vegetation is needed for food production and cover for fish. Aquatic plants produce oxygen, stabilize bottom sediment, protect the shoreline from wave erosion, and serve as feeding and nesting habitat for waterfowl.
Aquatic vegetation can become so abundant it interferes with recreational use.
When fishing, boating or swimming is seriously impeded, aquatic vegetation should be reduced. Periodic die-offs of dense vegetation also occur after periods of cloudy weather, long winter ice and snow cover, or the end of their growing season. Oxygen is consumed by bacteria that decompose dead plants. Microscopic bacteria can be so abundant that they can lower oxygen levels, inhibit fish from feeding and growing and possibly cause death. Probably the most essential thing to know in aquatic vegetation control is the type of plant causing the problem.