Florence County is rich in surface water resources with a total of 261 lakes and 165 streams, which equates to 8,470.0 acres. In an effort to better understand individual lake systems various lakes have been monitored since 2009 by the Florence County Land Conservation Department Water Monitoring. This monitoring helps to track long term trends and alert to possible resource concerns withing lake and river health.

Florence County is lucky to have 77 miles of exceptional resource waters (rivers and streams), 177 miles of outstanding resource waters (rivers and streams), and 417 acres of outstanding resource lakes, making them high priorities for protection. The goals in the LWRM plan reflect heavy protection efforts of surface water quality and shoreline habitat around these sources and through watershed focused efforts.

In addition to the high quality surface waters Florence County Land Conservation Department focuses on protection of our high quality watersheds. 14 of those watersheds are listed in the top 10% healthiest watersheds of the state of Wisconsin, 3 in the top 10-20% healthiest, and 2 in the top 20-30%