The Dongting Lake area is enriched with water resources; however, under the influence of climate change and intense human activities, water resources shortage has become increasingly prominent in recent years. Based on the precipitation and runoff data from 1988 to 2018, the evolution characteristics of precipitation and surface water resources in the north part of Dongting Lake was analyzed using trend and abrupt change analysis methods. The results showed that the precipitation in the north Dongting Lake area showed a trend of decreasing first and then increasing, with an increasing amount of inter-annual fluctuations. The runoff of the “Three Rivers” in Jingnan decreased significantly. Compared with the period of 1988-2003 (before the impoundment of the Three Gorges Reservoir), the amount of local water resources in the north Dongting Lake area from 2004 to 2018 (after the impoundment of the Three Gorges Reservoir) decreased from 3.89×109m3 to 3.01×109m3, a decrease of 22.7%, and the amount of transit water resources decreased from 60.87×109m3 to 47.14×109m3, a decrease of 22.6%. Furthermore, the amount of transit water resources in the north Dongting Lake area from 2004 to 2018 decreased sharply in September and October, with a decrease of 45% in October.