This paper reports the chemical characteristics of sediments in the typical lakes, Lake Honghu, Lake Changhu, Lake Donghu and Lake Shahu, in the Jianghan Plain and discusses the evolutionary features of the lakes in the plain as well as the ways and levels of the influence of human activities on these lake environments. Most of the lakes in the Jianghan Plain are shallow, benefitial to the growth of aquatic plants. Because of the influence of water sources and human activities, the lakes were easily dry, flood and paludified. In recent changes of the lakes, human activities, especially urbanisation and industrialisation, have had greater inpacts on the lake environments. These changes have exceeded natural variability. The chemical characteristics of the lake sediment profiles in the Jianghan Plain show that the growth of aquatic plants has led to enrichment of C and N and a decrease in Al in sediment. Agricultural and domestic waste water which has been input to the lakes and cuased more P, C and N to take part in lake ecosystem, promotes eutrophication and causes P enrichment in the sediment. With urban development and the input of industrial waste water into the lakes, not only C, N and P but also toxic metals were enriched in the seiments. These effect lake ecosystems and change ecological structures. Where urbanisation and industrialisation is devloped to a high degree, if lake resources are not protected, nutrient elements and toxic metals accumulate in the sediment, lake resources are further destroyed, even cause harm to humans.