Abstract: aking application of unnamed aerial vehicle (UAV) technology in water conservancy industry as the core, this paper briefly describes the application areas, key technology and application prospects of UAV technology. On the basis of the summary of UAV types and system composition, as well as review of current development status and application of civil UAV technology in China, UAV application scope and key technologies in water conservancy industry are systematically studied. UAV technology can be applied in high-precision terrain data acquisition, flood control and drought relief, emergency response, water/soil conservation and supervision, river regulation, water conservation, groundbreaking monitoring, flash floods disaster investigation and assessment, project design, geotechnical investigation, hydrological analysis and hydraulic heritage preservation.UAV system has excellent prospects in all the water industry areas.