Over the past century, the Communist Party of China (CPC), based on practical considerations, has developed water management thoughts and guidelines tailored to China’s national conditions and characteristics. The historical evolution of the CPC’s water management is: from addressing people’s drinking and water needs during the period of the New Democratic Revolution, which was seen as a crucial aspect of revolutionary success, to managing water hazards during the socialist revolution and construction era as a major political task for national security and development, to promoting water environmental protection and management during the period of reform and opening-up and socialist modernization as an inevitable path for social development, and finally to constructing a national water network in the new era as a key measure to ensure water security, emphasizing ecological priority, green development, and coordinated efforts in water resource protection and water environment management. China’s remarkable achievements in water management stem from adhering to Marxist views on nature, inheriting excellent traditional Chinese culture on water management, and learning from foreign experience and lessons about water management. This reflects the CPC’s consistent commitment to the value orientation of “people first”, strategic deployment of “water ecological civilization” construction, the basic path of “upholding while innovating”, and the scientific method of “systems thinking”. In the new era, the CPC will continue to vigorously promote water culture to create a new situation in promoting Chinese modernization, adhere to the green development concept that “clear waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets” to develop new quality productive forces, strengthen education on water security across society to implement a holistic approach to national security, and vigorously promote and consciously practice the spirit of water conservancy in the new era to meet the spiritual needs of the people for a better life.