The Institute of Hydrogeology and Environmental Geology£¨IHEG£©was founded in 1956. It is an exclusive research institute nationwide involving the study on hydrogeology, engineering geology, environmental geology and the development of new techniques and methods in these fields and has made contributions to the groundwater resources assessment and engineering geological work and environmental geological work in the state key areas. It mainly deals with the research on the investigation and assessment, development, utilization and protection of water resources and facilitates the building of discipline system covering hydrogeology, engineering geology and environmental geology system. Its main tasks are to study and resolve the universal and key theoretical and technical problems concerning the hydrogeology, engineering geology and environmental geology in the national economic construction and to provide the scientific basis for the development, harness, protection and rational utilization of territory.

The institute has 248 staff members, among whom 89 are senior research fellows headed by Prof. Zhang Zonghu academician of both the Chinese Academy of Science and the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Prof. Lu Yaoru academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, 66 are associate senior research fellows and 42 are assistants. There are 8 research sections and 4 scientific supply center in the institute. The Research Center of Land Resources and Environmental Geology of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, the Open Laboratory of Environmental Geology, the Hydro-geological Experimental and Testing Center and the Mineral Water testing Center of the Ministry of Land Resources are set up in the Institute. The Hydrogeology Commission and the Agricultural Geology Commission of Geological Society of China and IAH Chinese National Committee are all attached to the Institute.

Now the Institute has the development division and qualified staff to open up the market and it holds the permit for environmental assessment, the permit for engineering prospecting, the permit for environmental geology designing.

During the past forty-eight years, the Institute has undertaken and accomplished a great numbers of state key projects and obtained the fruitful achievements, among which more than 200 have won the State Natural Science Prize or have won the Scientific and Technological Achievements Prize on the ministrial and provincial level. It has established the close contacts with many institutions of over 40 countries and regions around the world through academic exchanges and Cooperative researches of multiple forms.