By using field salinity data recorded in the Qiantang Estuary for the nearly forty years (which covers the periods before and after the erection of a large-scale reservoir in the watershed and river regulation/reclamation in the estuary) and one-dimensional salt water intrusion modeling, it is shown that the salt water intrusion decreases caused by increased low water discharge for the reservoir, while the intrusion increases for the increased tidal range because of the river regulation/reclamation. The integrate result is that the saltwater intrusion decreases.