Abstract: The research and practice of watershed protection and restoration started early in America, and have achieved a good outcome in the restoring and managing of the Mississippi River, which has significant implications for watershed ecological protection and restoration in China. The management approaches of the Mississippi River were introduced in this paper and the long-term monitoring and restoration work of the Mississippi River was summarized. Besides, seven implications for the future work of watershed ecological protection and restoration in China were put forward. ① Indicator system of watershed ecosystem monitoring and evaluation should be established and refined; ② Watershed-wide monitoring networks should be established and long-term continuous monitoring of the whole river should be conducted; ③ A watershed ecological information platform should be built to improve data sharing; ④ The watershed-scale investigations and assessments of ecological conditions should be conducted; ⑤ A cycle system of monitoring, evaluation, planning and implementation should be established; ⑥ The scientific understanding of watershed ecosystem should be improved; ⑦ The collaborative watershed governance should be strengthened to develop an innovative management system of watershed protection and restoration. This research aims to provide a reference example of the watershed monitoring and restoration that covers from the headwater to estuary for the extensively launched watershed protection and restoration work in China.