Taking Kuye river catchment as an object and using method of sequential cluster analysis,the paper detected the phase feature of runoff evolution. It then analyzed the response relationship of runoff and climate elements in different phases, and initially revealed the regulation of driving force of runoff evolution.The results indicate that the measured runoff at Wenjiachuan station in Kuye River catchment presented a general decrease trend in recent 60 years with significant changes starting in 1980 and 1998,and decreased clearly since 1999.The relationship between precipitation and runoff of annual scale in different phases has certain difference.The correlation between monthly precipitation and runoff in flood season from June to October is better;but in dry season from November to May, the correlation between monthly precipitation and runoff is random.When the temperature of monthly mean is below 5℃, monthly runoff exponentially correlates to mean temperature. The runoff in flood season is dominated by high intensity rainfall while human activities play a principle role on river runoff evolution.