The conflicting between great amount sediment load of the river and critical regional water scarcity is one of the most serious challenges of watershed management in the Yellow River Basin because the soil and water conservation (SWC) practices could not only reduce the erosion on the slopes and sediment in the river,but also increase the infiltration of precipitation and reduce the runoff in the valley and river as well,at the same time.Runoff cost of sediment control is indicated as ratio of retained runoff and retained sediment (RRS) in this paper to describe the difference of integrated function of impact of soil and water conservation practices on runoff and erosion simultaneously at different scales from the plots to the basin.