Abstract: The judgment and comprehensive evaluation of the high-quality development level of irrigation districts are the basis for achieving high-quality development of irrigation districts, and also an important decision-making basis for the rehabilitation and modernization of irrigation districts. In order to build an evaluation index system that reflects the high-quality development level of irrigation areas in the new era,on the basis of the analysis of China′s socio-economic and irrigation district development stage characteristics, the objectives of high quality development of irrigation districts in the new period are clarified, This paper analyzes the concept and connotation of high-quality development of irrigation districts, and the evaluation index system is constructed, including the first grade indexes,namely, engineering improvement, operation safety, management science, water-saving and efficiency, ecological soundness, cultural self-confidence and 19 second grade indexes, the meaning of each indicator and its evaluation criteria are clarified. The “single index quantification–multiple indices synthesis–poly-criteria integration” method was used to calculate the index, which is applied to a large irrigation district in Jiangsu Province.The evaluation results of the case irrigation district show that the overall level of high quality of the irrigation district has increased significantly from level IV in 2010 to level II in 2021, and all indicators have increased significantly, which is consistent with the actual situation of the irrigation district. The research results provide guidance for correctly understanding the connotation of the high-quality irrigation districts, scientifically assessing the high-quality level and actively promoting the process of high-quality development of irrigation districts.