Abstract: In order to reveal the effect of rural human settlements governance and the influencing factors in the Zhangye section of the Heihe River Basin, This study focuses on five aspects from a micro perspective: farmers' environmental awareness, village environmental infrastructure, economic strength, social capital and governance capacity. Based on survey data from 434 sample farmers in the Zhangye section of the Heihe River Basin, a structural equation model is used to quantitatively analyse the governance and in order of influence, they are village environmental protection infrastructure, farmers' environmental awareness and village economic strength. 3) The stronger the village governance capacity, the worse the effect of rural human settlements governance. 4) Village social capital has no significant effect on the effect of rural human settlements governance. 5) The factors influencing the effectiveness of rural human settlements governance are multifaceted and complex, and require governance in the following areas: strengthening rural environmental protection publicity, raising farmers' awareness of environmental protection participation, consolidating the economic foundation of village environmental governance, and cultivating new types of social capital in villages.