Abstract: The paper summarizes the advances of basin water resources real-time allocation,and expatiates the necessity and the development of the water resources management in Heihe River basin.Due to the impact of human activities on hydrological cycle,the one-dimensional static hydrological model can not adapt to basin hydrological cycle.Therefore,the two-dimensional dynamic hydrological model,which gives full consideration to human activities,is developed.The paper gives the principles of the basin water resources real-time allocation,i.e.to operate by the long term water resoures allocation,to consider long term water allocation with short term goals,to make real-time decision,and to modify the results dynamically.An example application to Heihe River basin illustrates the process of the water resources real-time allocation.The study makes a probe into basin water resource real-time allocation and may provide an example for arid and semi-arid areas in North China.