Rural water environment management is important for comprehensively improving rural living environment.Encouraging farmers to participate in water environmental management is not only a helpful practice for the long-term management of rural water environment,but also an important supplement to the existing River Chief System.It plays an important role in realizing the “good governance” of rural public affairs at the macro level.On the basis of participatory governance theory,multi-center governance theory,collaborative governance theory,digital governance theory,and public participation ladder theory,the public participation in rural water environment management fall into four types:decision-making type,improvement type,management type and supervision type.Through the field investigation of the public participation in water environment management practice in rural areas of Jiangsu Province,the paper deeply analyzes and compares the typical participation modes corresponding to four types of participation:village consultation group,local river chief,managing river by pisciculture and Internet + River Chief System.It is found that the four models have their own advantages and disadvantages,and their participator and applicability are not the same.The villages with strong sense of participation and support from the two village committees are suitable to implement the village consultative group model.The villages with good atmosphere of water management and strong cooperation of two river chiefs are suitable for local river chiefs.The villages with high level of marketization and strong public marketing ability are suitable for managing river by pisciculture.The villages with high digitization degree and frequent interaction between cadres and the masses are suitable for the Internet + River Chief System model.In terms of good governance of the rural water environment,the boundary of public participation still needs to be balanced.Only by realizing the effective integration of government dominance and public participation,the positive interaction between government power and public rights,and the proper balance between formal and informal approaches,can the public be constantly encouraged to participate in River Chief System effectively.