T. G. Masaryk Water Research Institute, public research institution, is the direct successor of the State Hydrological Institute, which was founded in 1919. The current organizational form of the Institute was established by the Provision No. 12/06 of the Ministry of the Environment on the 12th of December 2006 from the founding charter of the public research institution.
The research activity in TGM WRI focuses mainly on hydrosphere and its protection. Special emphasis is put on evaluation of selected phenomena and processes within the environment; specific anthropogenic impacts and degrees of their severity as threats to the environment, development of systems of corrective and preventive measures, including proposals for mechanisms to be implemented in relevant legislative instruments. Another extensive area of focus of research conducted by the TGM WRI is the management of waste materials, primarily in the form of international collaboration and implementation of EU legislation; development of integrated waste management systems in the Czech Republic.