Smelting in northwest Guizhou, China resulted in accumulation of heavy metals in sediments of local water systems. In this study, sediments were collected from a river in the smelting region and from a lake approximately 10 km downwind from the zinc smelters. The concentrations of lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), and cadmium (Cd) in the river sediments varied in the range of 4375-21850, 7275-30425, and 42.0-95.0 mg kg-1, with Pb/Cd and Zn/Cd ratios of 104-266 and 173-390, respectively. However, the concentrations of Pb, Zn, and Cd in the lake sediments were in the range of 66.0-160, 130-1200, and 2.60-71.0 mg kg-1, with Pb/Cd and Zn/Cd ratios of 2.14-25.4 and 16.9-50.0, respectively. In the river sediments, Pb and Zn were mainly bound to carbonate (35-51%, 32-39%) and iron and manganese oxides (26-47%, 38-48%); whereas Cd was mainly associated with residue fraction (16-59%) and carbonate bound fraction (15-45%). However, in surface sediment from the lake, organic bound fraction was the dominant chemical forms of Pb (34-82%), Zn (3.8-46%), and Cd (31-84%), respectively. In river sediments, 206Pb/207Pb, 206Pb/208Pb ratios were 1.182-1.185 and 0.399-0.403, respectively, comparing to 1.178-1.2202, 0.477-0.486 in lake sediments. These results suggested that Pb, Zn, and Cd in river sediments were originated from release of Zn smelting slag, whereas in the lake sediments, they mainly come from the deposition of metal-enriched dust from the smelting sites.