Abstract: In order to enhance water exchange and improve water quality in Lixia River watershed， water transfer experiment was conducted from Dec. 3rd， 2006 to Jan. 7th， 2007. Eight water quality parameters， namely， temperature，pH， dissolved oxygen （DO）， chemical oxygen demand （COD）， potassium permanganate index （CODMn）， ammonia nitrogen （NH+4\|N）， electrical conductivity （EC）， transparency， were adopted to analyze the effects of water transfer on water quality. It was shown that NH+4\|N and COD were the main pollutants. But， the effects of water transfer on overall water quality in Lixia River watershed were spatially and temporally heterogeneous， as the water quality returned to the original level after the water transfer. Industrial wastewater， domestic sewage and non\|point pollution were the key factors causing deterioration of water quality. These results would be helpful for a better understanding toward the water quality change during water transfer and would yield references for the making of proper scheduling scheme.

Key words: Yangtze River, water transfer, water quality, spatially and temporally heterogeneous, water environment