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Unreasonable utilization of water resources cause serious water shortage and associated pollution problems. Improving water use efficiency (WUE) is helpful for alleviating water scarcity and mitigating water pollution. However, due to the conflict between water saving and economic development as well as uncertain parameter information, it is challenging to improve WUE. To address these problems, a water-footprint-based interval fuzzy robust fractional programming (WF-IFRFP) model was developed through integrating water footprint (WF), interval parameter programming (IPP) and fuzzy robust optimization (FRP) into a fractional programming (FP) framework. The developed WF-IFRFP model improved upon traditional methods by being able to tackle interval numbers and fuzzy sets under different system-violation risks. The developed model was applied to a water management case in the northwest of Inner Mongolia, China. The results of WF assessment showed that the water consumption of crop growth increased, water, whereas that used for reducing total nitrogen concentration decreased from 2012 to 2016. Then, specific benefit- and risk-explicit plans for cropping pattern adjustments were generated. The results showed that the water supply-demand ratio from WF-IFRFP would be [5.1, 10.7] % higher than that in the benchmark year of 2016. To assess its performance and merits, the optimal results from the WF-IFRFP model were compared to four alternative models. These comparisons reveal that the WF-IFRFP model is beneficial for improving irrigation WUE. • A novel framework was developed for improving irrigation water use efficiency. • Ecological water shortage risks and parameter uncertainties could be effectively handled. • The water footprint method was introduced to assess the water demand of economy and environment in semi-arid regions. • The developed model is beneficial for sustainable economic development and high-efficient water use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]