Abstract: This paper briefly deals with the principle and features of detecting directly underground water with the surface nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR )method and illustrates by case histories that this method has yielded good results in groundwater detection in11provinces(regions )of China.It is suggested that researches on the improvement of the antielectric and antimagnetic interference abilities of the NMR hy-droscope and increase of the detection depth should be carried out so as to improve the suitability of the new method.