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Arid Land Geography ›› 2025, Vol. 48 ›› Issue (1): 20-30.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2024.073

• Hydrology and Water Resoures • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Driving factors and decoupling effect of water resources utilization in the Yellow River Basin

YANG Yanyan(), WANG Yongyu(), XU Qiyang   

  1. The School of Statistics and Data Sciences, Lanzhou University of Finance and Economics, Lanzhou 730020, Gansu, China
  • Received:2024-02-01 Revised:2024-06-01 Online:2025-01-25 Published:2025-01-21
  • Contact: WANG Yongyu E-mail:yyywjmedu@163.com;139419197869@163.com

Abstract:

Realizing the sustainable utilization of water resources is a critical aspect of ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin, China. This study uses water footprint theory and methodology to measure the actual water consumption of 56 cities in the Yellow River Basin from 2000 to 2020. It identifies the primary factors influencing water use changes with the logarithmic mean Divisia index method and constructs a decoupling effort index model based on the driver-pressure-state-influence-response framework to evaluate the decoupling effect of water resource utilization. The findings reveal the following: (1) The utilization of water resources in the Yellow River Basin exhibits a fluctuating upward trend from 2000 to 2020, with agricultural production water accounting for over 90% of the total consumption. (2) The economic development effect and population scale effect are the primary positive driving factors, while the water use intensity effect and industrial structure effect serve as the main negative driving factors. (3) The decoupling effect between water resource utilization and economic development in the Yellow River Basin is generally favorable, primarily characterized by weak and strong decoupling. The decoupling performance is better in the midstream and downstream regions compared to the upstream region, and industrial production water and service trade water demonstrate superior decoupling compared to agricultural production water. (4) In the transition process of the decoupling effect of water resource utilization, the industrial structure effect and water resource endowment effect are decisive for achieving regional decoupling, while the water use intensity effect and water resource endowment effect are critical for achieving industrial decoupling. The results offer a theoretical basis for the coordinated development of water resources and the economy in the Yellow River Basin.

Key words: water footprint, the DPSIR framework, logarithmic mean Divisia index, decoupling model, Yellow River Basin