Author(s)

Haozhe Yu ¹, Zhijia Mei ², Yimin Huang ¹

Affiliation(s)

¹ College of Humanities, Shaanxi University of Technology, Hanzhong, 723001, Shaanxi, China
² College of Geographic Sciences, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, 116029, Liaoning, China

Corresponding Author

Haozhe Yu

ABSTRACT

The Wei River Basin occupies a pivotal position in China's northwest region, holding immense strategic importance. Water scarcity has emerged as a critical constraint on local socioeconomic development, necessitating urgent analysis of the decoupling between water resource utilization and high-quality economic growth in the Shaanxi Wei River Basin. This study aims to provide a foundation for efficient water resource management within the basin. Therefore, this study utilizes data from 2000 to 2021 on water resource utilization and urban economic development indicators in the Shaanxi Wei River Basin. First, it conducts a spatiotemporal analysis of water consumption volume, structure, and efficiency in the basin based on the coefficient of variation and the Sierr coefficient. Second, it employs grey correlation analysis to examine the degree of association between water resource utilization types and local high-quality economic development indicators. Finally, the Tapio decoupling index model is applied to evaluate the decoupling between water resource utilization and high-quality economic development in the basin. Findings reveal: (1) Constrained by economic foundations and development conditions, significant spatial disparities exist in water use patterns across cities in the basin, particularly with deepening imbalances in domestic water consumption exhibiting pronounced spatial characteristics; (2) High correlation exists between indicators of high-quality economic development and water use patterns in the basin, with national economic conditions and government fiscal status exhibiting the strongest association with water consumption; (3) Water use and economic development in the basin generally exhibit decoupling, indicating relative coordination but not absolute separation; From an industrial structure perspective, the decoupling elasticity of industry and agriculture outperforms the overall decoupling elasticity, while the latter surpasses that of the service sector. Consequently, the Wei River Basin in Shaanxi must pursue harmonious coexistence between humans and water through optimizing industrial structure, enhancing water resource utilization efficiency, and promoting high-quality development in the tertiary sector.

KEYWORDS

Water Resources; High-Quality Economic Development; Spatial Disparity Analysis; Tapio Decoupling Analysis; Shaanxi's Wei River Basin

CITE THIS PAPER

Haozhe Yu, Zhijia Mei, Yimin Huang, Decoupling Analysis of Water Resource Utilization and High-Quality Economic Development in the Wei River Basin, Shaanxi Province. Environment, Resource and Ecology Journal (2025) Vol. 9: 89-103. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/erej.2025.090210.

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