An evolutionary research on the water resources utilization and management in the middle reaches of Heihe River is presented in this research. At an epistemological level, evolutionary research can expand analytic view and provide some useful lessons that should be advocated and absorbed in the research of ecological economics. The aim of this research is not to present the essential characteristics and give detailed explanation of the evolutionary of water resources use system in the Heihe River, but also to present a whole picture that provide some useful information that can not be get from the snapshot of current condition of water resources utilization and management.The evolutionary process of water resources utilization and management is related with the rise and fall of irrigation agriculture. In the research, five important stages in the evolutionary process of water resources utilization and management in the Heihe River are identified. Before Western-Han Dynasty, the water use practice was to dredge up the silt to form cultivated land. The irrigation agriculture was initiated from the period of the Western-Han Dynasty. From the Western-Han Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, the water resources were not the limited factor of economic development, the management practice mainly focused on land. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the demand of water resources increased owing to the growth of population. Water allocation became a focus problem, and some water allocation schemes had been recorded in the history documents. One important water allocation scheme performed for three hundred years was drawn up by General Nian Genyao during Qing Dynasty. From the establishment of the People's Republic of China to 21st century, the water shortage has become a mainly limited factor and its influence scope extended to ecological system. The central government takes many countermeasures to alleviate the effect of water shortage, such as controlling water price and water right mechanism. Since the 21st century, the local government has begun to build water saving society to adapt the water shortage.
Ultimately, some experiences and lessons about the evolutionary process of water resources utilization and management are summed up systematically, and their efficiency in the future development efforts is discussed simply.

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