River, as an important water carrier, has special significance in China, where water resource crisis is getting increasingly worse. During the past a few years, many rivers in China have been developed by building hydropower stations. How to scientifically appraise the rivers’ responses to the development in different situations, and how to effectively develop and manage the river ecosystems, represent a significant obligation and challenge for ecologists. The Xiangxi River is the longest tributary in Hubei portion of the Three Gorges Reservoir. The status of the river can influence the reservoir in many ways. The function of the river ecosystem services may impact the living and working conditions of the surrounded habitants and the sustainable development of related ecosystems and the river itself. Based on the past studies about the ecosystem services on water ecosystems, this paper divides the river ecosystem services by the characteristics of composition and structure, ecological processes and effectiveness of river ecosystems, into three categories: providing goods, regulating and supporting, cultural services. As a result, the total monetary value of the calculated services of the studied reaches of Xiangxi River was 8.41×108 Yuan RBM•a-1 in 2003. The values of various services were ordered as water storage > hydro-energy > traveling >flood control > supplying fresh water > aquatic product > transportation of sand > water purification > gas regulation > erosion control. It also showed that traveling and hydro-energy were among the most important ecosystem services. River management strategy is proposed to optimize all the services to keep river the status of ecosystem sustainable development.