In order to promote the low-carbon construction of hydraulic engineering effectively,the carbon emission characteristics in the construction stage of hydraulic engineering and the carbon reduction measures and carbon management strategies throughout the construction stage are discussed through engineering survey and literature review. The results shows that the carbon reduction measures in the construction stage can focus on three aspects:reasonable selection of general building materials such as concrete and steel; application of carbon reduction technologies such as low-carbon construction methods, new energy and waste utilization and ecological carbon sequestration; optimization of low-carbon transport programs with consideration of water transport. In addition, a carbon management strategy is proposed based on comparison of low-carbon construction schemes as well as estimation, evaluation and dynamic management of carbon emission. Also, the carbon management safeguards recommendations are provided in the view of carbon accounting and carbon evaluation.