Under-film drip irrigation technology is currently one of the main agricultural technologies used for water conservation and has been widely used in Xinjiang, China. In this study, we evaluated the ecological, economic, and social benefits of under-film drip irrigation technology based on survey data of four years (2000, 2004, 2006, and 2009) of cotton growth in the Manas River Basin in Xinjiang. In terms of the ecological benefits of under-film drip irrigation, results showed that this technology increased water conservation by 41.92%, and the amount of water conserved through the use of under-film drip irrigation accounted for 9.34% of river runoff. The annual flow of the Manas River is 12.42×10⁸ m³ and the minimum ecological water requirement for this river is 1.24×10⁸ m³. Thus, the conserved water could contribute to maintaining the minimum ecological water requirement. Under-film drip irrigation also reduced fertilizer and pesticide use by 18.38% and 17.00%, respectively, compared with furrow irrigation. The economic benefit of under-film drip irrigation was based on the fact that it increased water conservation by 39.60%, 40.80%, 42.00%, and 45.27% in 2000, 2002, 2006, and 2009, respectively, with an average increase of 41.92%. The yield per unit area for cotton increased by 19.63%, 10.28%, 25.00%, and 26.47% in 2000, 2002, 2006, and 2009, respectively, with an average yield increase of 23.15%. Based on the market price of cotton, the net profit from cotton increased by 658, 1083, 2024, and 4605 yuan per hm² in 2000, 2002, 2006, and 2009, respectively. Furthermore, water use efficiency increased by 98.06%, 88.89%, 47.06%, and 48.79% in 2000, 2002, 2006, and 2009, respectively, with an average increase of 70.70%. Social benefits generated from the use of under-film drip irrigation included the fact that agricultural management efficiency increased and human resources were preserved. Under-film drip irrigation technology was good for labor transfer and has changed the type of work required by reducing the need for weeding, modification of the sub lateral canal, and ridging, among others. The technology has not only led to reduced labor intensity as well as the number of workers required, it has also increased work efficiency and management quota. For conventional cotton cultivation, each worker can only manage an area of 1.67 hm², but each worker can manage an area of 5.33-8.00 hm² using under-film drip irrigation. This represents a 3-4 fold increase. In 1997, the population involved in agriculture accounted for 43.10% of the total population; this percentage decreased to 13.65% in 2009, reduced 29.45%, providing conditions for the transfer of agricultural population. In addition, an assessment based on Bossel theory showed that under-film drip irrigation technology was good for social sustainability. Our results indicated that under-film drip irrigation cropping patterns were good for social and economic development and for environmental protection in the Manas River Basin region. The results presented here provide helpful information for future applications of under-film drip irrigation technology.