Due to the channel that a ship lock located is lack of water resources，and the water consumption of one filling and emptying process is large，the ship lock should have water-saving function.According to the maximum difference between water level and the topographic conditions of the lock site，we propose a short-culvert filling and emptying system with a water-saving pool.To solve the key hydraulic problems of the filling and emptying system layout during the design of water-saving ship lock，we test the hydraulic characteristics and berthing conditions during lock filling and emptying with non-water-saving and water-saving operations by lock physical model with a scale of 1：30.The results show that the layout of the filling and emptying system is reasonable and feasible，and the hydraulic characteristics meet the specifications and design requirements.