Abstract: At present, there are some problems in reservoir dam safety monitoring, such as imperfect monitoring items, nonstandard construction and installation, insufficient operation and management capacity, etc., which lead to the failure of some safety monitoring systems to operate normally after completion, resulting in waste of construction funds and even affecting dam safety management. Based on the investigation results of the construction and operation status of the national reservoir dam safety monitoring system and the author’s experience, a series of problems existing in the planning, design, review, bidding, construction, acceptance, operation management and other links of dam safety monitoring are systematically sorted out, and the reasons of the current situation of reservoir dam safety monitoring are analyzed in detail. The countermeasures and suggestions for improving reservoir dams safety monitoring are put forward, including raising awareness of the importance of dam safety monitoring, strengthening safety monitoring training, studying and promulgating dam safety monitoring management measures, setting up dam safety monitoring expert database, strengthening special supervision of dam safety monitoring, introducing safety monitoring instrument detection and third-party identification during construction, etc. This paper has guiding values for promoting the improvement of reservoir dam safety monitoring level in China.