Environmental transformation of the Jingjiang River and Dongting Lake has been addressed in previous large-scale studies. This project has looked at the temporal and spatial contexts beyond “the transformation” to explore local environments’ animals, plants, cultivars, and agriculture, as well as their profound effects on human well-being. By focusing upon how large-scale lake transformations influence local micro-environments and how local people build local infrastructures, this project uses local gazetteers and memorials to track water conservancy construction. The historical flood-water levels of the Jingjiang River and the water works of the Dongting Lake Region were analyzed across different sub-regions and time periods. Tagging tools in Local Gazetteers Research Tools facilitated the collection of water conservancy construction data necessary to trace the flooding and deposition process of the lake and sociotechnical change.