(Objective) Soil salinity is an abiotic challenge facing agricultural production in Xinjiang. One solution to ameliorate the impact of soil salinity is to leach the salt out of the root zone in winter-spring period after harvest but before planting. The purpose of this paper is to experimentally study the suitable irrigation scheduling to achieve that goal. (Method) The experiment was conducted in a field where irrigation amount in the winter varied from 0 to 3 600 m³/hm², combined with a spring irrigation with the amount 300 m³/hm². In each treatment, we measured the change in water and salt contents at different soil depths. (Result) 1 The winter irrigation affected water storage in the soil, especially in the early stage and in the top 0~30 cm soil layer where the irrigation significantly increased the soil moisture content, regardless of the irrigation amount. The increase was followed by a decline until commencement of the spring irrigation. The soil moisture content in 0~100 cm soil layer irrigated by 600 m³/hm² of water in the winter was lower than that before the irrigation; a supplementary spring irrigation boosted soil moisture content in the 0~30 cm soil layer by more than 15.66% compared to that with only one winter irrigation at 1 800 m³/hm². 2 In the early stage after the winter irrigation, salt leaching depth increased with the increase in irrigation amount; when the irrigation amount was 2 400 m³/hm² or above, the leaching depth was as deep as 100 cm. However, the prolonged drying season prior to the spring irrigation drove salt ascending, regardless of winter irrigation amount. The supplementary spring irrigation leached salt, especially from the 0~30 cm soil layer where the desalinization was most significant. 3 Combining a 2 400 m³/hm² winter irrigation and a 300 m³/hm² spring irrigation desalinated the 0~30 cm and 0~100 cm soil layers most efficiently. 4 After the spring irrigation, the average electric conductivity of the 0~30 cm and 0~10 cm soil layer was 1.40 mS/cm and 1.30 mS/cm, respectively, and the associated total salt content were 3.65 and 3.32 g/kg, respectively, lower than the critical salt content for cotton emergence (3.7 g/kg). (Conclusion) Considering water saving, desalination and soil water in the 0~30 cm soil layer after the spring irrigation, irrigating 2 400 m³/hm² in winter combined with a 300 m³/hm² irrigation in spring is optimal for cotton growth in the studied region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]