[Objective] The changing pattern of vegetation coverage in "two lakes and one reservoir" (Hongfeng lake, Baihua lake, Aha reservoir) from 1973 to 2017 in Guiyang City was discussed in order to provide a scientific approach and theoretical basis for quantitatively exploring the monitoring of the ecological environment evolution of urban drinking water sources.[Methods] Five remote sensing images, including multi-spectral scanner (MSS) image in 1973, thematic mapper (TM) data in 1993, 2001, 2008 and operational land imager (OLI) data in 2017, and GIS technology were used to study the change of surface vegetation coverage, based on a dimidiate model and vegetation coverage dynamic model.[Results] ① The overall vegetation coverage grades of the study area showed a concave type curve, indicating that the proportion of area with low and high coverage increased, while the medium-low coverage, moderate coverage, and medium-high coverage decreased. ② During the period from 2008 to 2017, the annual rate of vegetation coverage change was significantly higher than the previous three periods, namely 1973 to 1993, 1993 to 2001, and 2001 to 2008. The sum of the proportions of medium-high coverage and high coverage areas in 2017 was greater than the sum of the two in 1973. The area proportion of high-vegetation coverage had been steadily rising.[Conclusion] The vegetation coverage in the study area is degraded and improved over time, however the overall coverage is mainly degraded, due to the expansion of urban construction land. Socio-economic activities and regional development policies are the driving forces for the evolution of surface vegetation coverage, especially for areas with low and moderate vegetation coverage.