Damp soil also aids mopup after the burn. The main effect of prescribed burning on the water resource is the potential for increased runoff of rainfall. When surface runoff increases after burning, it may carry suspended soil particles, dissolved inorganic nutrients, and other materials into adjacent streams and lakes reducing water quality. These effects seldom occur after Coastal Plain bums. Problems can be avoided in hilly areas or near metropolitan water supplies by using properly planned and conducted burns.
Rainwater leaches minerals out of the ash and into the soil.
In sandy soils, leaching may also move minerals through the soil layer into the ground water. Generally, a properly planned prescribed burn will not adversely affect either the quality or quantity of ground or surface water in the South. Effects on Air Prescribed fires may contribute to changes in air quality. Air quality on a regional scale is affected only when many acres are burned on the same day. Local problems are more frequent and occasionally acute due to the large quantities of smoke that can be produced in a given area during a short period of time.