Abstract: More attention should be paid to the potential risk factors affecting population health resulted from large scale reservoir construction. The population health might be affected directly or indirectly by these potential risk factors, such as local weather change, once submerged zone, water pollution, insect-born infectious diseases, mental health of the people due to the resettlement. This paper introduces the progress of the studies on the potential risk factors to population health resulted from large scale reservoir construction in the world, in order to develop effective intervention policy to protect the health of the residents living near reservoirs.