Monroe County is a land of sinkholes and caves shaped by karst geology, where water moving through the landscape connects surface features and underground systems. Protecting water in this setting includes maintaining woodlands along streams and rivers, keeping streams free from silt, sediment, and pollutants, and avoiding dumping in sinkholes. Recommended practices also include cleaning out sinkholes that have been used for dumping, limiting grazing around caves and sinkholes, keeping livestock away from streams, wetlands, and sinkholes, maintaining septic systems every 2 years, replacing lawns with meadows, and learning about your own watershed and water source.