[Objective] The potential soil erosion risk in the key harnessing areas of Jinghe and Beiluo River upstream was assessed to provide references for soil erosion researches. [Methods] Based on the interpretation results of high-resolution remote sensing images and the assistant of GIS, the Chinese soil loss equation and the method of soil anti-erosion years were used to assess the potential risk of lands with different slope gradient and land use type by SPEDI index. [Results] The average soil erosion modules of Wuqi County was 1 317.5 t/(km²·a), which belonged to slight erosion level. The risk was assessed at slight or no danger level, and the average SPEDI is 1.25. [Conclusion] In some districts, soil erosion might be serious especially when the slope is larger than 25 degrees, and these districts need to be intensively harnessed in the future. In addition, the excavation work of mine and construction of land were proposed to be diminished because most serious soil erosion was caused by human.