Hydropower shoulders important responsibility for regulation and control of power systems with intermittent renewable energy sources. The quality of regulation required for hydropower units has been increasing, and the interaction between hydropower plants (HPPs) and power systems is of great importance. This work aims to conduct a fundamental study on hydraulic-mechanical-electrical coupling mechanism for small signal stability of HPPs. The main focus is the impact of hydraulic-mechanical factors on the local mode oscillation in a Single-Machine-Infinite-Bus system. A twelfth-order state matrix is established for theoretical eigen-analysis as the core approach. Meanwhile, a simulation model based on Simulink/SimPowerSystems is built for validation. The influencing mechanisms of water column elasticity, governor mechanical component, and water inertia are studied under different control modes of the turbine governor. The results show considerable influence from hydraulic-mechanical factors, and the effect of turbine governor actions is no longer ignorable; also, the damping performance under power system stabilizers can be considerably affected. Insights into interactions among physical quantities in various conditions are obtained as well. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.