Abstract: Twenty sampling sites, selected from the upstream Huangshui River, were divided into three land use types, i.e. grassland, cropland and urban land. Samples were collected from these points in May and August of 2016 in order to evaluate the health of Huangshui River and the community structure of macrobenthos. An investigation was conducted to study the community structure and functional feeding groups of macrobenthos in Huangshui River based on the samples and land use types. The results showed that all the sampling sites in Huangshui River exhibited low levels of both average density and biomass of macrobenthos. The dominant species were Gammarus suifunensis Urno, Apataniidae sp., Baetis sp., Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri and Polypedilum sp.. The various sampling sites showed significant differences in community structure and functional feeding groups of macrobenthos, among which collector-gatherer was the most dominant. Gammarus suifunensis was dominant in grassland, Baetis sp. was dominant in cropland, and Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri was dominant in urban land. In all the three land use types, Baetis sp. was always the dominant species. The health condition of the river ecosystem was evaluated by using the comprehensive assessment index. The results revealed that Huangshui River, from its origin to the Xining section, suffered increasing interference from water conservation projects, with decreasing vegetation coverage and biodiversity and increasing soil erosion, which made the whole river in a state of poor health.