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As a basic natural and strategic resource, water is of great significance to the sustainable development of economies and societies. Owing to population growth, industrialization, the acceleration of urbanization, and global warming, water poverty is gradually increasing in some parts of the world. Effectively assessing water poverty from different dimensions is still a serious challenge for global water resources planning. This paper establishes a framework of multidimensional water poverty (MWP) from six dimensions: water management, water technology, water assets, water welfare, water resources, and water environment. The measurement model of MWP is built based on the Back Propagation Neural Network (BPNN), and the Spatial Correlation Analysis tool is used to visualize the spatial effects of MWP. The Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) was used as a case study and the main factors affecting the MWP of the YREB were determined by the Geodetector. When analyzing the results the following observations were made: (1) In terms of time distribution, the level of MWP in the YREB has gradually increased, and the poverty gap between the upper reaches, as well as the middle and lower reaches, shows an increasing trend. (2) With respect to spatial distribution, there is a continuously increasing agglomeration effect that shows a gradient-increasing distribution pattern of "West-Central-East." (3) The MWP in the YREB is mainly affected by these indicators in the three dimensions consisting of water resources, water technology, and water management. Specifically, R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP, the proportion of water-saving irrigation area in the cultivable land area, the urban daily wastewater treatment capacity, the land surface water resources per capita, and the groundwater resources per capita play an important role in the MWP. Based on the above findings, targeted policy recommendations are proposed to alleviate the MWP in the YREB. • Model of multidimensional water poverty developed to assess water scarcity. • Multidimensional water poverty and its agglomeration effect in the YREB increases. • Differences in multidimensional water poverty for the YREB's three reaches are clear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are nearly two million ha of red jujube in the arid inland agricultural region south of the Tianshan mountains in China that produce approximately 37.2% of the global red jujube market. This paper provides an insight into the spatiotemporal variation of the water footprint and economic water productivity of red jujube cultivation in six main red jujube-producing areas. The effects of regional policies, industrial clusters, planting structures, irrigation methods and brand values studied extensively in this paper and shows how these driving factors affect the variation. Time series data covering the period of 2003–2015 was used for the study. The results showed that the annual variation of yield, cultivated areas, water footprint and economic water productivity of red jujube cultivation have experienced upward trends in the Tianshan regions, but that there were also few differences between different growing areas. The blue water makes the largest contribution (more than 70%) to the components of the red jujube water footprint in each red jujube producing area. The contribution of grey water footprint to the total consumptive WF was quite small (less than 10%) and the remaining 10%–15% was due to the green water. The water footprint and overall economic water productivity through the red jujube in various producing areas are affected by local government management and performance. The possible ways of improving economic water productivity in terms of red jujube cultivation are through policy, technological and management interventions. • Water footprint is proposed as an effective assessment tool for management of water resources. • Blue water footprint has the greatest impact on red jujube growing scale in Turpan-Hami basin. • The difference in economic water productivity provides reference for the selection and development of producing areas. • Policy planning represents a key factor for sustainability management in red jujube industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing water scarcity in China is further exacerbated by the rapid socio-economic development and uneven spatial distribution of water resources. Current studies on water footprint have mainly focused on historical accounting and trend analysis at the provincial scale. However, a comprehensive exploration of future water footprint would be vital to a better understanding of future water shortage challenges, and more importantly, would allow the mitigation of water scarcity and inequal water distribution. In this paper, we present an approach to project the future water footprint of China at a fine resolution (0.125 arc-degree) under the shared socio-economic pathway (SSP) scenario framework, which described five future alternative socio-economic development pathways over the 21st century. We first simulated the future spatial patterns of built-up land using the Future Land Use Simulation (FLUS) model and derived the future population growth and urbanization rate from the population projection provided by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). Then future water footprint was projected according a log-transformed linear regression calibrated with historical data during 2007–2012. We found that the total volume of China's water footprint will increase significantly in the future under the SSP1, SSP4 and SSP5 scenarios, reaching up to nearly 400 billion m3 in 2050, equivalent to almost 40% increase compared to that in 2010. The spatial patterns of future water footprint show dramatic increase (up to 100–130%) in the eastern provinces (Shandong, Henan, and Hebei), and slight decrease were found in the western provinces (Xinjiang, Ningxia, and Qinghai). In addition, the future water footprints were found to share very similar spatial patterns at local pixel scale among different SSP scenarios in three of the largest metropolitan areas of China (Beijing-Hebei-Tianjin, Yangtze River Delta, and Pearl River Delta). These findings provide extensive knowledge of the future water footprint and suggest a more severe water scarcity in the future from a consumption-oriented perspective. More effective water management policies are urgently needed to mitigate future water resource scarcity and inequality. • Future girded WF was projected under the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs). • Future WF of China will increase by 40% and reach 400 billion m3 in 2050. • Eastern provinces account for the majority of future WF consumption. • Similar local spatial patterns of future WF were observed among five SSPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]