Institute for Water and Environmental Problems, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IWEP SB RAS) - the first academic institution in Altai, was founded in 1987 as the Institute for Water and Environmental Problems, Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Its establishment was dictated by the need for conducting the fundamental scientific research on environmental processes and phenomena, assessing water resources state and studying the problems of sustainable nature management in the vast Siberian region. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and until 2014, IWEP SB RAS was a part of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Siberian Branch). From 2014 to 2018, the Institute was under the authority of the Russian Federal Agency of Scientific Organizations, now it is managed by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation. The scientific and methodological guidance of the Institute is still implemented by the Department of Earth Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Prof. Oleg F. Vasiliev, Academician of the USSR/RAS Academy of Sciences was the organizer and first Director of the Institute (until October 1995). Prof. Yuri I. Vinokurov and Prof. Alexander V. Puzanov headed IWEP SB RAS in 1995-2016 and 2016-2023, respectively. Since April 2023, the Institute has been headed by Alexander T. Zinoviev (Dr.Sc).

Initially, at the Institute establishment, the project on assessment of environmental consequences of the Katun HPP construction was a priority research. Present-day projects are related with the main spheres of the Institute competence: "Geography, Geoecology and Rational Nature Management" and "Water Resources, Terrestrial Hydrology".

Despite recent objective difficulties in the development of fundamental sciences in Russia, RAS succeeded in the establishment of the Novosibirsk Branch of IWEP SB RAS (1996) and the Gorno-Altaisk Branch of IWEP SB RAS in the Republic of Altai (2002). Currently, seven laboratories, i.e. Biogeochemistry, Aquatic Ecology, Water Resources and Water Use, Hydrobiology, Hydrology and Geoinformatics, Landscape-Water-Ecological Research and Nature Management, Physics of Atmospheric-Hydrospheric Processes, and Chemical-Analytical Center are in the structure of the Institute. Two collaborative use centers operate on its basis: 1) Microscopy and X-ray Spectroscopy and 2) Research Vessels fleet. The latter is located on the Novosibirsk Reservoir and Lake Teletskoye. In addition, IWEP SB RAS incorporates the research stations in different regions of Western Siberia. The scientific library of the Institute, having more than 45 thousand copies of books and journals, is the basic in terms of water resources and environmental protection in Siberia. Over the past decades, IWEP SB RAS has created a qualified scientific team that successfully solves both fundamental and applied problems of the water sector.

Among major research topics of the Institute are formation, monitoring and utilization of water resources of Siberia (based on the basin approach), development of scientific bases of environmental protection and rational nature management in the context of climate change and anthropogenic activity.

At present, 169 specialists are on IWEP staff, including 82 researchers (among them 19 scientists with Dr.Sc. and 45 – with PhD degrees). They are involved in five projects carried out within the State Task of IWEP SB RAS (2021-2025):

1) "Study of mechanisms of natural and anthropogenic changes in the quantity and quality of water resources in Siberia using hydrological models and information technologies" (scientific supervisor - A.T. Zinoviev, Dr.Sc.);

2) "Study of diversity and structural-functional organization of aquatic ecosystems for conservation and rational use of aquatic and biological resources of Western Siberia" (scientific supervisors: D.M. Bezmaternykh, Dr.Sc. and V.V. Kirillov, PhD);

3) "Assessment of seasonal peculiarities of inflow and subsequent distribution of pollutants in the system "atmosphere - atmospheric precipitation - surface water" in the key areas of the Ob basin depending on natural and climatic conditions" (scientific supervisor - T.S. Papina, Dr.Sc.);

4) "Assessment of ecological and biogeochemical situation in the river basins of Siberia under climate change and anthropogenic impact" (supervisors: Prof. A.V. Puzanov, Prof. Y.I. Vinokurov);

5) "Natural and natural-economic systems of Siberia in the conditions of modern challenges: state diagnostics, adaptive capabilities, potential of ecosystem services" (scientific supervisor - D.V. Chernykh, Dr.Sc.).

The investigations were financially supported by scientific foundations. For instance, in 2023, the Institute participated in nine projects under grants from the Russian Science Foundation (RSF) and the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR). To mention just the largest:

– RSF № 22-17-20041 "Remote radio-physical precursors of droughts in strategically important agrarian regions of Russia (by the example of Altai Krai)" (scientific supervisor - A.N. Romanov Dr.Sc.);

– RSF № 21-17-00135 "Diagnostics of the state of the basin system of Lake Teletskoye in the conditions of modern climatic and anthropogenic challenges" (scientific supervisor - N.S. Malygina, PhD);

– RFBR № 21-55-75-75002 "Development of recommendations for sustainable joint use of soil and ground (underground) water: decision-making with the support and participation of stakeholders" (scientific supervisor - I.D. Rybkina, Dr.Sc.).

 The Institute also performed a large amount of applied research by assignments from the governmental authorities of Russian regions, Rosvodresursy, Roscosmos, including different enterprises and organizations. IWEP annually signed several dozens of contracts and agreements on studying various problems of environmental protection and water management, e.g., the evaluation of environmental consequences of the construction of large HPPs (Katun, Krapivinsk, Boguchany, Altai, Evenkiya); the environmental assessment of aftereffects of nuclear tests at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site; the environmental support of space rocket activities, including the construction and operation of the Vostochny Cosmodrome; the study of the current state and scientific substantiation of methods for water management in the Russian Far East. In 2020-2022, IWEP SB RAS took part in the Great Norilsk Expedition of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Since 2022, at the request of the “Norilsk Nickel”, the Institute has been monitoring the surface waters at construction sites of this company.

Every year, the employees of IWEP SB RAS publish several monographs and about 100 articles in scientific peer-reviewed journals, obtain certificates for computer programs and patents. According to the Science Index [RINTs], a total number of publications exceeds 6800 works (including approximately 2700 articles in scientific journals, more than 200 monographs and 36 textbooks).

The Institute fruitfully cooperates with the universities and other scientific organizations in Russia and abroad. The largest number of joint scientific publications was prepared with the Altai State University, the Altai State Technical University and the Gorno-Altaisk State University.