Evaluation and Diagnosis of Water Resources Spatial Equilibrium Under the High‐Quality Development of Water Conservancy

ABSTRACT The development philosophy of water resources spatial equilibrium (WRSE) is a crucial aspect of China's water conservancy strategy. To quantitatively evaluate the WRSE in Chongqing and diagnose obstacle indicators, the WRSE evaluation and diagnostic model was proposed based on coupling coordination degree and subtraction set pair potential (SSPP) from both water supply and demand perspectives. The results showed that economically developed regions in Chongqing were suffering water scarcity and disequilibrium. The WRSE state from excellent to poor was the city cluster of Wuling mountain area in southeastern Chongqing (CSC), the city cluster of the Three Gorges Reservoir area in northeastern Chongqing (CNC), the new area of Chongqing city proper (NAC), and the central urban area of Chongqing (CAC). The obstacle indicators in CAC, NAC, CNC, CSC, districts, and counties were diagnosed by an improved diagnostic method based on SSPP, which can avoid the unreasonable diagnostic result. The evaluation and diagnostic results at different spatial scales can provide a more comprehensive reference for water resources management, and the results are consistent with the actual conditions of Chongqing. Our study can provide insights for WRSE evaluation and the diagnosis of obstacle indicators. It also presents a method that can be applied to other systems, including environmental and resource management, across various spatial scales.