Abstract: After the project of ecological water regulation was carried out in the Heihe River basin, the area of rump lake enlarges and the oasis regions are irrigated. In addition, the weather disasters decrease, the soil water conditions improve, and the vegetation production grows. As the days of river with flow increase, the groundwater system is supplied, and the decreasing trend of water table is prevent and water table gradually increases. The water table in 2006 has reached to the maximum value since 1995. The area of oasis and cover of forest and grassland increase year by year. The investigation concerning the understanding of farmers and herdsmen to ecological water regulation shows that 56.61% of the responds have cognition to the project, and the responds believe that environment degeneration such as sandstorm, forest degeneration, and biodiversity reduction will affect their health. Besides, 41.39% of responds hold the opinion that environmental protection is as important as economic development. In addition, 32.54% of responds think that environmental protection is more important, while another 19.91% of responds hold an opposite opinion. Ecological water regulation significantly affects the daily life of farmers and herdsmen. Among them, 51.90% of households think that the project has a negative impact on their daily life, and 50.00% of households believe that they don not get enough subsidies during the project of giving up farming and grazing and constructing ecological forests. 37.5% of responds clearly express their opinion that they will continue grazing when the subsidies policy ends. The education and age level have an significant effect on the recognition to the project. The recognition to the rationality is positively correlated to the education level of residents. The recognition to the view that environment matters decreases with increasing ages of local residents. For those who are older than 45, their recognition to the view that environment is more important significantly increase.

Key words: ecological water regulation, public recognition, Ejina Oasis