The Hydraulic Engineering discipline at Nanchang University was established in 1940. It obtained the authority to confer a master's degree in the secondary discipline of Hydropower Engineering in 1993, a master's degree in the first-level discipline of Hydraulic Engineering in 2011, and a doctoral degree in the first-level discipline of Hydraulic Engineering in 2021. In 2023, it was approved as a Postdoctoral Research Mobile Station in Hydraulic Engineering, and in 2024, it was authorized to offer a professional doctoral degree in Civil and Hydraulic Engineering. Aligned with national strategic plans such as the Yangtze River Protection Initiative, the construction of the National Ecological Civilization Pilot Zone, and the comprehensive management of the Poyang Lake Basin, as well as regional social development needs, this discipline leverages six provincial and ministerial research platforms, including the Jiangxi Provincial Collaborative Innovation Center for Water Security Supporting Green Development in the Poyang Lake Basin, the Key Laboratory of Poyang Lake Environment and Resource Utilization of the Ministry of Education, and the Jiangxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Hydraulic Geotechnical Engineering Safety. It has now developed four main research directions: Hydropower Engineering, Hydraulic Structure Engineering, Water Resources and Water Environment, and Hydraulics and River-Lake Management. The discipline exhibits distinct characteristics and advantages in areas such as dam system engineering safety control and ecological management of rivers and lakes in the Poyang Lake Basin.  

The discipline currently has 50 full-time faculty members, including 26 professors, 15 doctoral supervisors, and 30 master's supervisors. Among them, 44 hold doctoral degrees, and 28 are young and middle-aged backbone faculty members under the age of 45. The team is recognized as a provincial-level exemplary innovative team of graduate supervisors. In the past five years, the discipline has secured more than 50 national-level research projects and over 200 provincial-level research projects and other major engineering projects. It has received 6 provincial-level teaching achievement awards, more than 20 provincial and ministerial-level science and technology awards, and published over 500 high-level academic papers. Each year, the program enrolls over 60 master's students.  

Adhering to the university's educational philosophy of "putting people first, morality as the priority, and learning as the foundation," the Hydraulic Engineering discipline at Nanchang University upholds the distinctive educational culture of "red ideology as the guide and green ecological development as the backdrop." It integrates Jiangxi's red cultural resources and the concept of green ecological development throughout the entire teaching and education process. The cultivated graduate students possess strong political awareness and professional competence, with over 40 receiving provincial or higher-level awards annually. Graduates are equipped to engage in engineering management, design, and scientific research related to hydraulic engineering. A significant number of master's graduates are recommended to pursue doctoral degrees or participate in joint training programs at renowned domestic and international universities.