Abstract: Understanding the occupation of reservoir area is an important basis for standardizing the reservoir area management and ensuring flood control safety and dam safety. For a long time, the reservoir area occupation is mainly expressed qualitatively, and no quantitative analysis results have been found. The analysis of the reservoir area occupation is not deep enough, which restricts the construction of the reservoir area management regulations and the development of the industry. Relying on 10 typical large and medium-sized reservoirs in the administrative region of an eastern province in China, the occupation index system of the reservoir area and the design questionnaire are put forward for the first time. The quantitative analyses of the confirmation and demarcation of the reservoir area lands, occupation types, occupation distribution and occupation progresses are carried out, and the countermeasures and suggestions for monitoring and analyzing the reservoir area occupations are proposed in this paper. The analysis results show that the reservoir area is occupied seriously in general, and the confirmation of land rights is complex and weak. And commercial development, urban and rural residential housing and agricultural production are the three main types of occupation. The occupation of the reservoir area is not lower than the normal water level of reservoir. The occupation progresses can be divided into three typical stages: original formation, rapid growth and restraint. It is suggested that remote sensing monitoring should be strengthened, a database for the reservoir area occupations should be established as soon as possible, guidelines for investigation and analysis of the reservoir area occupation should be formulated, and the classification standard of occupation severity degree of the reservoir area should be put forward.