Abstract: Influenced by the severe rainfalls or earthquakes, landslides and debris flows are easy to occur in the mountainous and canyon areas of Southwest China, leading to blockage of rivers and formation of barrier lakes. Once overtopping breach occurs, the barrier lake is very easy to form a flood peak exceeding the largest natural flood in history, which severely threatens the lives and properties of the people along the river and destroys the ecological environment. During the 13th Five-Year Plan Period, the National Key Research and Development program "Rapid detection for risk assessment, emergency disposal technology and equipment development of barrier lakes" was Approved to solve the shortage problem of efficient emergency disposal technology of barrier lakes. After three years of joint researches, some innovations were made in the aspects of formation and breach mechanism, rapid acquisition of multi-source information, danger monitoring and early warning, risk evaluation, emergency disposal, emergency equipments of barrier lakes. The researches have provided a theoretical method and scientific means for the efficient disposal of barrier lakes with remarkable social and economic benefits and broad application prospects.