Evaluation of the Spatiotemporal Variation of Sustainable Utilization of Water Resources: Case Study from Henan Province (China)

The evaluation of the sustainable utilization of water resources is an important factor to measure whether the water resources can support the local coordinated development of population, economy and environment. Our study used Henan Province as the research area, which has a relative shortage of water resources (average water resources per capita, ≤400 m3). The Drivers, Pressures, State, Impact, Response (DPSIR) model was used to construct the evaluation index system, utilizing the entropy weight method and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method to determine the index weight. The sustainable utilization of water resources in 18 cities of Henan Province from 2006 to 2015 was evaluated using the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) model. The results show a steady upward trend, from worst to general, but there is a great difference between each city. The overall level was still on the low side, and the influence of each subsystem in the comprehensive index of the sustainable utilization of water resources varies. The evaluation results are basically in line with the actual situation of economic and social development in Henan Province, which has a guiding significance for improving the level of sustainable utilization of water resources in the region.