Frequent human activities on navigable rivers and the construction of dams have damaged the river ecology to varying degrees，and the river ecology is under enormous pressure. Based on 34 global golden waterways in the world，global dam data and ecological index data，the impact of dam on river ecology and the role of navigation locks in reducing ecological pressure are studied by regression analysis and factor analysis. The results show that the construction of dams significantly increases the ecological pressure of the river，while the navigation locks can reduce the increase of the ecological pressure of the river and improve the ecology. Ecological pressures of the different exploitation rate waterway with or without locks are not consistent，the waterway with high dam density is more likely to highlight the regulating effect of navigation lock on river ecology. The research results can provide theoretical support for the planning and construction of river shipping under the goal of ecological environmental protection.