This paper briefly described the surface water environment numerical models, including the development history, the application status, and the latest research results at home and abroad of hydrodynamic models, water quality models and water ecological models. Both methods of analyzing model sensitivity and uncertainty and problems of model precision were emphatically expounded. It is pointed out that the systematization, integration and platform construction of the model, the combination of innovation with emerging technologies supported by large data, and the related management issues such as model synthesis and regulation will become the future research hotspots in the field of water environment simulation and prediction.