[Objective] The objective of the study is to investigate the characteristics of water environment and influencing factors at road area of highway in the Qinghai Tibet Plateau, and to provide theoretical basis and scientific support for the construction of the Qinghai Tibet highway and water environmental protection measures. [Methods] Based on the test results of water environment along Gongyu highway(from Gonghe to Yushu County in Qinghai Province) and Qinghai Tibet highway(from Geermu to Lhasa City) in June to July of 2015, we analyzed water environment characteristics and influencing factors in highway road area in Qinghai Tibet Plateau. [Results] Statistic test showed that the significant differences existed in runoff water pollution in highway road area of the Qinghai Tibet Plateau, and high variability was found in the water quality indexes, with coefficient of variation(C_v) ranging from 11% to 396%, indicating that pollutant in runoff varies by location. We also compared water environment characteristics in typical highway areas, and found that water environment quality was better in new highway area than old highway area. The highway operation had a significant impact on water environment. Person test showed that runoff water, suspended solids(SS) and other water quality parameters was correlated with each other to a certain degree, indicating that SS was not only the main pollutants of runoff in the Qinghai Tibet Plateau region, but also is the carrier of other pollutants, including the heavy metals and chemical oxygen demand(COD). [Conclusion] Road runoff is the main source of the water pollution in road area, collection and treatment of road runoff and the use of new pavement will effectively reduce the impact of highway on water environment in the highway area.