As a prerequisite for groundwater protection and contamination control, evaluation of groundwater con- tamination risk was the extension of groundwater vulnerability assessment. Based on disaster theory and using shallow groundwater of the lower reaches of Liaohe River Plain as the study area, we built an evaluation index system and a contamination index model for groundwater contamination risks from the perspectives of intrinsic vulnerability, external stresses, and functional value. We used data acquisition technology （remote sensing） and spatial analysis technology （GIS） to calculate the value of groundwater contamination risks. The spatial distribution of hotspots was obtained by calculating G index. Results show that groundwater contamination is above a mid-level risk in most of the study area. Areas with extreme high risk account for 37.86%, areas with high risk 32.47%, areas with moderate risk 12.07%, areas with light risk 3.17%, and areas with slight risk 14.43%. Hotspots areas are mainly located in central Shenyang City, northwest of Xinmin City, Beizhen City and Liaozhong County. Coldspots are mainly in Panjin City, Yingkou City, Dashiqiao City, Dawa County and Panshan County. The results reflect the spatial distribution and mechanism of groundwater contamination risk in the study area and provide relative references for land use planning and groundwater resource protection in the lower reaches of the Liaohe River Plain.
