The river and lake chief system, a new system that the state values, is helpful in encouraging the management of river and lake pollution, which is crucial in promoting environmental protection. With the increasingly active research on the river and lake chief system and its development, this paper sorts out and evaluates the literature and policies of the definition, construction process and main tasks of this system. Then, based on the panel data of Anhui Province from 2011 to 2021, the relationship between the implementation of the river and lake chief system and the efficiency of water resource utilization is analyzed by SBM model. The results show that the efficiency of water resource utilization in Anhui Province has been significantly improved with the implementation of the river and lake chief system. However, there are still areas worthy of improvement in the implementation of the system. In view of these problems, Anhui should improve the legal construction, pay attention to the preliminary investigation work, and perform well in publicity work to increase the effectiveness of the river and lake chief system.