Dongting Lake is the second largest freshwater lake in China and it is an important regulating lake in the Yangtze River Basin. The change of the runoff and water level of Dongting Lake shows a new trend due to the influence of the underlying surface change, human activities and climate change. We expect the study on the evolution characteristics of Dongting Lake water resources to provide some support for the protection of Dongting Lake. We analyzed the intra-annual and inter-annual variations of the runoff and the water level at the outlet control station of Dongting Lake- Chenglingji (Qilishan) station, Zhicheng and Luoshan hydrological station at Yangtze River mainstream from 1960 to 2015 using Mann-Kendall abrupt change testing method. The results showed that the runoff at Zhicheng station barely changed before 2000, whereas it started declining since 2001. The water level at Zhicheng station rose first and then fell. The runoff showed a decreasing trend at Chenglingji (Qilishan) station, whereas the average water level showed an opposite trend. The runoff had no significant change overall at Luoshan Station, but the average water level tended to rise. After the implementation of Three Gorges Project, the runoff and water level declined at the abovementioned 3 stations in flood season (April-October), whereas the water level rose in dry season (January-March next year). It indicates that the construction of Yangtze River water conservancy projects, especially the Three Gorges Project, has a significant impact on the water resources regulation of Dongting Lake.