The research on flow movement and the riverbed erosion-deposition around a water intake is essential for the safe operation of water intake engineering. And it is necessary to demonstrate the reasonableness of the position of the water intake from the terms of flow pattern, the river regime and reduce the impact of water intake on the river and flood control. As an example, water intakes of power plant located at downstream of Yangtze River were selected in this paper. A 3D numerical model was used to simulate local flows and plane 2D flow and sediment model used to simulate riverbed erosion-deposition, suspended sediment concentration around submerged water intakes, respectively. The recent riverbed evolutions around the water intakes were also predicted. The boundary conditions of the 3D flow model provided by the results of 2D model. The water-sediment condition of typical series and a high, a moderate and a low flow year were selected. The reservoir operation impact of the Three Gorges Project and the upstream reservoir to the water-sediment process downstream were take into account. A better location and appropriate elevation of water intake were recommended based on the result of models by analyzing the change of riverbed erosion-deposition, bed elevation and suspended sediment concentration around water intakes. The results show that the change of riverbed erosion and deposition around the water in-take is not only affected by the conditions of incoming water and sediment, but also by the position of the local topography at the same river reach. Therefore, it is essential to select the appropriate location and elevation to the water intake engineering.