Since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, especially after the economic reforms in 1978, China has achieved unprecedented social and economic development. Rapid urbanization is one of the most outstanding outcomes of social and economic success. Like many other cities in China, during the last 40 years, the city of Kunming experienced an enormous growth of population and economy. During the rapid urbanization process the Dianchi Lake, the sixth-largest freshwater lake in China, has suffered serious pollution from industrial wastewater, agricultural runoff, and domestic sewage. Moreover, combined with the water scarcity and urban flooding caused by rapid urban expansion, the environmental crises have raised the tension between the city and water and had a negative impact on the development of the city. This practicum exam the evolving relationship between Dianchi Lake and Kunming through time; it explores a variety of precedents on urban water management strategies, and it experiments with emergent technology to formulate a water management based ecological infrastructure from a landscape architecture approach. In particular, proposals for the redesign of the abandoned airport will demonstrate a potential approach to alleviating the tension between humans and water within the Dianchi Lake drainage basin.