[Objective] Attempts from the perspective of institutionalism to investigate the crux of trans district water pollution control performance, and provide suggestions to improve the basin water environment quality.[Methods] Through analyzing performance of relevant legal provisions of "Environmental Protection Law", "Water Law", "Water Pollution Prevention Law", and water resources management system, and carried on the investigation to the water pollution of China.[Results] River basin management system and institutions arrangement, including regional segmentation, bull management, lack of coordination mechanism were insufficient to meet the need of solving sharp growth of waste and the increasing trans-regional water pollution incidents. The lack of environmental legal institutional execution caused vicious competition between local governments that involved in economic and political competition games, and eventually led to irrational equilibrium and the tragedy of the commons.[Conclusion] Improve the trans-district water pollution performance needs further perfecting the game design to improving institutions implementation, and adapt commitment action to improve the credibility and effectiveness of central government's policy,and through establishing accountability system, innovating basin property right and ecological compensation to improving control performance.