It is an important issue how the operation of Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) has impacted upon the hydrological relationship between the Yangtze River and the Poyang Lake. A SWAT model was built to simulate the runoff of the River and the Lake, and the energy difference (Fe) index was selected to characterize the river-lake relationship. The results show: (1) The SWAT model was verified suitable to simulate the runoff of the study area. (2) The monthly trend of River-lake relationship after the operation of the TGR from 2010 to 2018 was studied. ...