[Objective] A typical basin was taken as study area, we demonstrated the evolution of water resources in Central Yunnan Province, to supply scientific support for integrated water resources management. [Methods] Runoff data was collected in Qingling River basin of central Yunnan Province. Linear trend estimation, Mann-Kendall non parameter test, wavelet analysis method and R/S analysis were used. [Results] (1) Runoff is extremely non-uniform at the annual scale, and concentrating on the summer and winter. (2) Since 1960s, runoff of Qingling River basin showed a decreasing trend with a of 4.80×10⁷ m³/10 a, but the trend not yet reached the significant level of 0.05. (3) The periodical evolution of runoff experienced“rich-lack-rich-lack”processes, in 2010, an abrupt change occurred. (4) From the aspect of multi-time scale variation, it was locally prominent but not over all covered. Comparatively a 15 year-periodical variation was obvious. (5) A significant Hurst phenomenon existed for annual runoff of Qingling River basin, whereby the decrease probability in the future was great. [Conclusion] Water resources in Qingling River basin are unevenly distributed in seasonal and inter-annual time scale. A decrease trend will continue in the next period, hence rational planning is important.