Examining the impact factors of the water environment using the extended STIRPAT model: A Case Study in Sichuan

China’s rapid social and economic development has led to a significant deterioration in the water environment, which has limited sustainable regional development. Therefore, understanding the specific factors that affect the water environment is vital for future water conservation efforts. From a social economy perspective, this paper used population, the economy, urbanization, technological level, water consumption, and other factors to expand the STIRPAT model, after which partial least squares was applied to solve the model parameters and comprehensively analyze the impact of regional development on the water environment in Sichuan Province from 2007 to 2017. It was found that the main factors affecting the water environment were resident population, urbanization, service industry development, and industrialization, with the industrialization factor being found to have a reverse waste-sewage water discharge inhibition. In addition, it was found that during the study period, there was no environmental Kuznets curve between water resource environmental pollution and economic growth in Sichuan Province. Finally, some policy recommendations for improving the water environment were given based on the results.