The spatial distributions of the fluorescence intensities F-max), for chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) components, the fluorescence indices (FI370 and FI310) and their correlations with water quality of 19 lakes in the Songhua River Basin (SHRB) across semiarid regions of Northeast China were examined with the data collected in September 2012 and 2015. The 19 lakes were divided into two groups according to EC (threshold value = 800 mu S cm(-1)): fresh water (N = 13) and brackish water lakes (N = 6). The fluorescent characteristics of CDOM in the 19 lakes were investigated using excitation-emission matrix fluorescence spectroscopy (EEM) coupled with parallel factor (PARAFAC) and multivariate analysis. Two humic-like components (C1 and C3), one tryptophan-like component (C2), and one tyrosine-like component (C4) were identified by PARAFAC. The component C4 was not included in subsequent analyses due to the strong scatter in some colloidal water samples from brackish water lakes. The correlations between F-max for the three EEM-PARAFAC extracted CDOM components C1-C3, the fluorescence indices (FI370 and FI310) and the water quality parameters (i.e., TN, TP, Chl-a, pH, EC, turbidity (Turb) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC)) were determined by redundancy analysis (RDA). The results of RDA analysis showed that spatial variation in land cover, pollution sources, and salinity/EC gradients in water quality affected F-max for the fluorescent components C1-C3 and the fluorescence indices (FI370 and FI310). Further examination indicated that the CDOM fluorescent components and the fluorescence indices (FI370 and F1310) did not significantly differ (t-test, p > 0.05) in fresh water (N = 13) and brackish water lakes (N = 6). There was a difference in the distribution of the average F-max for the CDOM fluorescent components between Cl to C3 from agricultural sources and urban wastewater sources in hypereutrophic brackish water lakes. The F-max for humic-like components Cl and C3 spatially varied with land cover among the 19 lakes. Our results indicated that the spatial distributions of F-max for CDOM fluorescent components and their correlations with water quality can be evaluated by EEM-PARAFAC and multivariate analysis among the 19 lakes across semiarid regions of Northeast China, which has potential implication for lakes with similar genesis. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.