Heihe River is the second largest inland river in Northwest China, which is graded as the second class on water ecology in Qilian Mountain-Hexi Corridor area. At present, the unmet basic ecological water demand of the river course, shrinking of the river and lake areas, serious damage to the river landform and habitat form, as well as the aggravating land desertification have caused the degraded ecological function of the river course. In this paper, the Qp method and Tennant method were used to analyze the minimal ecological basic flow and ecological flow in different periods of the year, through which the annual ecological water demand of the river was determined and the implementation scheme of water ecology control in Zhangye urban section, Heihe River was discussed. Based on the study, a new river control pattern suitable for the management of inland lakes suffering from severe threat of wind and sand was put forward. This pattern is composed of the management of river (lake)- ecological river bank -coastal zone -windbreak zone. This approach can not only control the ecological system of the inland river horizontally, but also create new landscapes of manmade lakes. The study and implementation results indicate that the calculation method of ecological water demand can better adapt to the hydrological characteristics of the Heihe River Basin, the implementation effect of the proposed river control pattern can serve as a role model for the water ecological control engineering of the inland rivers suffering from severe threat of wind and sand. This approach is scientifically feasible, it can provide reference for similar engineering projects.