[Objective] To find out the running and damaged condition of check dams in the five heavy rainfalls with wide range, long duration and large magnitude in July 2013 in the Yanhe river basin. [Methods] Field survey of 45 check dams in 15 small basins of 3 counties in the Yanhe river basin was conducted. [Results] It was found that 35 check dams could withstand the storm and flood struck. While only one new dam and 9 old check dams transformed to cultivated land were destroyed. The dams, which was still not full of silt and the dam system of the new dam combined with the old dam, worked very well. [Conclusion] The direct cause of the destroy of check dams was the over-standard rainstorms and floods caused by intense and concentrated rainfall. Meanwhile, there are many problems in the construction, operation and management of check dams in the Yanhe river Basin.