With the rapid economic growth in recent years,the shortage of water resources and the water pollution become more and more serious. It becomes urgent to evaluate the vulnerability of water source system and take preventive and protective measures. Vulnerability assessment can help to determine the weakness existed in the water source and provide guidance for the determination of water resources protection measures. Based on previous study,the concept of vulnerability and water source vulnerability is described,and the principle for establishing the index system is presented,as well as the current main methods used to evaluate the vulnerability of reservoir-type water source. Finally,the challenges that vulnerability assessment of water source faces at present and the research orientation in the future are demonstrated.