In water year 2007, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the National Park Service (NPS), began a 2-year study to collect hydrologic, water-quality, and biological data to provide a baseline characterization of the North Fork Flathead River from the United States-Canada border to its confluence with the Middle Fork of the Flathead River near Columbia Falls, Mont. Although mining in the Canadian portion of the North Fork Basin was banned in 2010 by a Memorandum of Understanding issued by the Province of British Columbia, baseline characterization was deemed important for the evaluation of any potential future changes in hydrology, water quality, or aquatic biology in the basin.