Sedimentary samples were collected from typical lakes such as the Honghu Lake, Chaohu Lake, Lake Taihu and Shijiu Lake along the the Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtze River Basin for analysis of total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP). 210Pb and 137Cs dating method was used to study recent environmental change of lakes. 137Cs cumulative peak value of Honghu Lake indicates that the depositional rate of Honghu Lake gradually slowed down during the past 50 years, with a largest depositional rate of up to 0.174 cm/a between 1963 and 1986. This probably results from human activity such as reclamation at that time. The drilling core of Caohu Lake found that since the 1970s, depositional flux has increased with increasing depth, which is probably attributed to worsening of soil erosion around this area. Organic analysis also shows that since the 1950s, organic matter in sediment of the Honghu Lake has increased dramatically, the Caohu Lake started to deposit in the 1970s and the Taihu Lake started to increase in the 1980s, but the Shijiu Lake started to deposit rapidly in this one hundred year. Viewed from increasing amount, the Honghu Lake and Shijiu Lake, belonging to macrophytic lake, increases faster than the Caohu Lake and Taihu Lake, which belong to algae lake. This study tried to take use of TOC and TP to obtain the rate of environmental change of lake. The research shows that the change of TOC and TP is probably related to selfadjusting of lakes. Rates of TOC changes showed positive trends in the early 1980s at Honghu and Taihu, 1970s at Shijiu and 1960s at Chaohu. The range and periodical of rates of TOC and TP change may help us understand lake evolution in current days, which provides us with an important understanding that what means will be used to treat and manage lakes.