Effects of fire and fuels management on water quality in eastern North America

Fuels management, especially prescribed fire, can have direct impacts on aquatic resources through deposition of ash to surface waters. On the terrestrial side, fuels management leads to changes in vegetative structure and potentially soil properties that affect ecosystem cycling of water and inorganic and organic constituents. Because surface water systems (streams, lakes and wetlands) are tightly linked to terrestrial systems, these changes in the terrestrial system can also impact surface waters.