Abstract: Scientifically understanding essential feature, efficiently assessing risk level and upgrading emergency disposal level are the key to alleviating the threat and the lose of barrier lakes.The essential features of barrier lakes were introduced from the aspects of distribution, formation cause, reservoir capacity, life cycle and the disaster characteristics.Moreover, the risk assessment methods were systematically summarized from qualitative assessment, quantitative assessment and disaster chain perspectives.Based on the systematic analysis of outburst mechanism, this paper emphatically introduced the engineering problems about the emergency monitoring, the discharge spillway technology and the specialized excavation equipment about the barrier lakes.Combined with the limitations of the current research, five key issues that should be focused on in the study of emergency disposal of barrier lakes were prospected:(1) study on partitioned accumulation mechanism of landslide body;(2) theory on strong unsteady sand transport;(3) large scale physical model of barrier lakes;(4) research on special equipment of barrier lakes emergency disposal;(5) dynamic tracking on outburst flood peak.These results can provide reasonable references for risk assessment, emergency response, regional disaster prevention and reduction planning of high-risk barrier lakes.