Abstract
The accessibility, quantity, and quality of water resources are the basic requirements for guaranteeing water resource security. Research into regional water resource accessibility will contribute to improving regional water resource security and effective water resource management. In this study, we used a water resource accessibility index model considering five spatial factors to evaluate the grid-scale water resource accessibility and constructed the spatial pattern of water resource accessibility in Southwest China. Then, we analyzed the coupling coordination degree between county-level water resource accessibility and eco-socio-economic water demand elements. The water resource accessibility showed obvious regional differences, and the overall trend gradually decreased from Southeast to Northwest. The coupling coordination degree between county-level water resource accessibility and eco-socio-economic water demand elements was between 0.26 and 0.84, and was relatively low overall, whereas the counties (districts) with high coordination, moderate coordination, low coordination, reluctant coordination, and incoordination accounted for 0.92%, 5.31%, 21.06%, 59.71%, and 13.00% of total counties (districts), respectively. Therefore, the Southwest region needs to further strengthen the construction of its agricultural irrigation facilities, protect the water resources, and coordinate the relationship between water resource management and water demand elements to comprehensively guarantee regional sustainable development.
Highlights
Water resources are essential for maintaining the sustainable development of eco-socio-economic systems [1,2]
We assumed that water users collect water from the nearest water source, and the water resource accessibility is mainly affected by natural factors such as runoff, water intake distance, relative height difference, slope, and land use type, and ignoring human factors
The water intake distance is closely related to the spatial distribution of the water system
Summary
Water resources are essential for maintaining the sustainable development of eco-socio-economic systems [1,2]. Nations (UN) estimates that more than one-third of the population on the planet will face a freshwater crisis by 2030 [8], and residents in regions with relatively abundant water resources will still have to spend time and energy to obtain water resources, which increases their living costs and impacts health [9,10]. Whether people living in different regions can and fairly obtain sufficient water resources to meet their water demand has become a hot topic for academics and policymakers. There are two main manifestations of accessibility: The number of opportunities or benefits that can be obtained within a given time or distance, and the amount of spatial resistance that needs to be overcome to reach a destination [14,15]
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