Spatiotemporal differentiation and driving patterns of water utilization intensity in Yellow River Basin of China: Comprehensive perspective on the water quantity and quality

Water utilization intensity (WUI) has drawn great attention due to the necessity to respond to water scarcity and water contamination in Yellow River Basin in China. Against this background, it is worthwhile to strengthen researches of the quantification of WUI and its driving patterns. Based on provincial panel data of the Yellow River Basin from 2000 to 2020, an indicator system of the WUI is constructed from the comprehensive perspective of water quantity and water quality, the spatiotemporal differentiation and driving patterns of WUI are analyzed by the descriptive statistics method, Logarithmic Mean Division Index and Least Square Error model. Results showed that the overall trends of the WUI in Yellow River Basin are decreasing year by year, with the sharp decreases in water pollution contributing more than water consumption. This intensity varied significantly from upper reaches to lower reaches in the provincial disparity analysis and departmental disparity analysis. Among the 7 selected driving factors, intensity effect, structural effect, exploitation effect and economy effect strongly promoted the decline of WUI. In addition, the driving patterns of WUI in Yellow River Basin include three types: two-effect dominance, three-effect synergy I and three-effect synergy II. Our analysis of spatiotemporal differentiation of the WUI and its driving patterns is of great significance for integrating water consumption and water pollution in the current situation of WUI, which are beneficial for informing policies towards sustainable water utilization and providing theoretical support for the rational water utilization.