Both the advance in the study of the degradation and rcsioration of eutrophic shallow lakes and the role of biomanipalation in the recovery of damaged lake ecosystems have been reviewed in the present paper. Three models have also been introduced on the decline of submerged macrophytes to interpret the succession of submerged macrophyte communities in the process of eu-trophicatoa of the shallow lakes in the middle and lower reaches of the Changjiang River. Based on the well-dcxrumented references and the researches on the decline and restoration of aquatic vegetation conducted in Donghu Lake of Wuhan during the 8th Five Year Plan period (1991-1995), the ant hors put forward a model.