Abstract:  The typical small watershed in the water source area of the Middle Route of South-to-North Water Transfer Project was chosen to build runoff plots on five different land use types with slope farmland, horticulture, degradation coppice, wildgrassground,and masson pinus.The rules of runoff and sediment generation under different land use types as well as the effect of slopes were observed. The research results showed preliminary that the rainfall process with high intensity and short duration was the main force inducing soil and water loss in the water source area. Among the five different land use types, the runoff and sediment of horticulture and slope farmland were significantly higher than those of the other types. Therfore, besides enforcing the slope farmland management,controlling the soil and water loss of horticulture is also important for the vegetation recovery in the water source area of Middle Route of South-to-North Water Transfer Project.

Key words:  water source area of the Middle Route of South-to-North Water Transfer Project  ,  land use  ,   vegetation recovery  ,   runoff and sediment generation