Abstract: The study aims at exploring the possibility of using recovery ability after drought stress-rewatering at vegetative growth stage as the evaluating index in varieties water use efficiency (WUE) of winter wheat varieties.‘Jing 411’,‘Jinmai 47’and their 34 near isogenic lines (NILs) were used as materials in this experiment. Semi-automatic rainproof shelter and the percolating pools were utilized for simulating drought treatment. After suffering severe drought stress, winter wheat crops were rewatered at early jointing stage. The biomass accumulation after rewatering was determined as recovery ability index. In the meanwhile, plant height in the end of vegetative growth stage was measured, and WUE of varieties/lines was also determined. Thereafter, the differences in recovery ability, plant height and the population WUE, together with the correlation between recovery ability and population WUE were analyzed, respectively. The results showed that there were significant differences of recovery ability among some varieties/lines. The recovery ability was affected by both genotype and environment, and the interaction existed in these two factors. Significant differences existed in plant height and population WUE among the 34 NILs along with their parents. There was a significantly positive correlation between recovery ability and plant height of varieties/lines. Recovery ability and plant height were very significantly and positively correlated with population yield WUE respectively. The results indicated that recovery ability after drought stress-rewatering could be used as an evaluating index of population WUE under drought condition.