Abstract: Traditionally the studies on the water resources and their utilization pay more attention to the amount of the water resources. However, it is common that the water resources distribution unbalance in the arid land. A new method based GIS is used for analyzing the spatial distinction in water resources and their utilization in Xinjiang, the largest arid land in China. The study gets some new results. It is shown clearly on the maps according to the spatial analysis that most parts of Xinjiang are poor in richness of water resources besides some remote area, which relates to not only the natural conditions, but also the population and the land cultivated. On the utilization of water resources, 5 different types are identified. Urumqi river basin is the only basin in which both the surface and ground water are over exploited. The comprehensive exploitation of water resources is more than 75% of the total water resources in the middle area of northern slope of Tianshan Mountains and Turpan- Hami basin, further exploitation of water resources should be forbidden. Groundwater just stands a little part of the water exploited in most parts of Xinjiang. The exploitation of ground water should be paid more attention in the future.

Key words: GIS, arid land, water resources utilization, spatial distinction