Spatiotemporal evolution of sustainable utilization of water resources in the Yangtze River Economic Belt based on an integrated water ecological footprint model

Sustainable utilization of water resources (SUWR) is the basis of water resources management, allocation, and efficient utilization, which is crucial to promoting high-quality development and ensuring a region's water security. Appraising the sustainability of water resources and achieving a healthy regional water balance is a critical and complex problem. This study proposed an integrated water ecological footprint (IWEF) model that considered the water ecosystem service function and characteristics of human water consumption. The water ecological footprint, carrying capacity, water ecological pressure index (EPIw), ecological load index (ELIw), and eco-economic coordination index (ECIw) are developed to examine the level and degree of SUWR. The Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) is selected as the study area to comprehensively assess the spatiotemporal differentiation and dynamical evolution of SUWR. The results show that the EPIw and ELIw decreased by 50.27% and 64.29% in the YREB from 2011 to 2018, revealing the upward trend of SUWR. In terms of ECIw, the east part of the YREB experienced more strong decoupling states of water resources consumption and socio-economy. In the western part, the ecological safety state, sustainable development conditions of water resources, and the coordinated relationship of water pollution discharge toward economic growth are better than in the middle and eastern part of the YREB. This study helps to understand the complex interrelation between water and socio-economy at different spatial-temporal scales and provides a novel framework that can be used as an evaluation index and policy insights for the sustainability of water resources.