Ditch system is important to reduce pollution and prevent eutrophication in rivers and lakes. Firstly, this paper gives the definition of ditch and ditch wetland; secondly, we review the research advances in the effects of ditch wetland on hydrology and eco-environment at home and abroad, and explain explicitly the mechanism that ditch wetlands intercept nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus, etc.) and contamination (pesticide and herbicide,etc.); additionally, it introduces the advances in ditch modeling and ditch management study; finally, in order to be helpful to ditch studies, we point out the present insufficient research and put forward some suggestions that include strengthening research on field monitoring, modeling ditch and managing ditch.