Abstract: The rational utilization of the characteristics of sediment resources to achieve the optimal allocation of sediment resources is one of the key problems which needs to be solved urgently for the ecological environmental governance in lakes and reservoirs. This paper aims to review the study on sediment resources and the multi-objective optimization methods, summarize the research status of sediment resources and analyze its development trend. Firstly, relevant researches on sediment resources optimal allocation framework were summarized, which mainly focus on the sediment resources optimal allocation, approach to sediment resources utilization, sediment ecological management and optimal allocation methods. Then the existing problems such as the current understanding on sediment resources optimal allocation theory, model construction and application, evaluation and decision-making were analyzed. Finally the future research direction of sediment resources optimal allocation was discussed.