Abstract To assess hydrologic regime more comprehensively using the distribution of hydrologic parameters, the probability density function of each parameter is obtained from parameter estimations and goodness-of-fit tests based on the principle of maximum entropy. Then, the Shannon entropy and weights for a multi-attribute decision-making process are used to calculate the degree of hydrologic alteration. This method is applied to the Xiaoqing River in the city of Jinan, China. The results indicate that the diversities of the monthly mean flow and annual extreme flow show decreasing trends that are attributable to human impacts, while the diversities of the timing of annual extreme, high and low flows, and the rate and frequency of flooding show increasing trends. Meanwhile, the overall degree of hydrologic alteration of the Xiaoqing River in Jinan is 0.747, which belongs to a change in the height. Thus, we suggest that the timing and volume of inter-basin water transfer should be reasonably regulated and that the regulation of peak flooding times and peak flow should be strengthened to make them conform to ecological characteristics during the water resource management of the Xiaoqing River.