Abstract: By using coupling model, this paper analyzed the relationships between the economic development and water environment quality in Songhua River Basin of Jilin Province from 1991 to 2010. During the study period, both the economic development index and the water environment index in the Basin showed an uptrend, basically in a coordination state. From the perspective of coupling coordination degree, the economic development and the water environment system were in interactive coupling, with the features of complexity, nonlinearity, and timevariation. As a whole, the coupling experienced three stages, i.e., low level stage, antagonistic stage, and breakingin stage. As for the coupling degree, the coupling of the economic development and the water environment system was in the first quadrant, i.e., at a development stage of basic coordination. From the perspective of spatial disparity, the coupling degree of the economic development and the water environment system was higher in the upper reaches of the Songhua River Basin, including Changchun and Jilin, than in the lower reaches, including Songyuan and Baicheng. The coupling degree was not only significantly positively correlated with regional economic development, but also affected by the links between the regions as well as the industrial structure within the regions. The economic development of the cities in the upper reaches of the Songhua River Basin was obviously higher than that in the lower reaches, and, due to the adopting of more strict and effective measures for environmental protection and pollution emissions reduction, the water environment quality in the upper reaches of the Songhua River Basin was better.