Abstract: Aim to find methods for aquifers and ecology protection in arid and semi-arid mines,the paper put forth the concept and the scientific connotation of water-preserved mining,and established its basic frame from systematical the- ory based on coal geology,mining conditions and strata movement characteristics in the Yushen mine area. Water-pre- served coal mining applies to in arid and semi-arid coal mining areas. Its objective is to protect aquifer structures and base flow of rivers. Its major research contents include geological and hydrogeological conditions,rock movement con- trol technology,constraint conditions both water and ecology,and key mining technique. Three basic ways,which are to refrain from water flowing fractures by controlling strata movement,to reconstruct aquicludes and remodel aquicludes by grouting,are widely adopted in water-preserved mining. Challenges facing are filling at high cost and negative envi- ronmental effects of shallower buried depths of water table in deserts due to land subsidence. Studies on water-pre- served coal mining are theory base and evidence for coal mining and water resource protection in arid and semi-arid mines.