Sub-theme
1. Water-Human-Economy(Agriculture, Industry, City...)-Ecology Nexus under a Changing Environment
Topic
1-6. Water security, human development and economic growth linkages
Body
The advanced development of industrial structure is the inevitable way to alleviate a regional water quality crisis. The adaptability analysis of advanced industrial structure (AIS) and water pollution can provide important enlightenment for regional differentiation policy making, which is conducive to simultaneously realizing water sustainability and high-quality economic development. However, the adaptability between water pollution and advanced industrial structure remained unrevealed. Therefore, taking Jiangsu Province as a case study, firstly, this study objectively assessed the status of water pollution during the years 2013-2019 through quantitatively analyzing the grey water footprint (GWF) and grey water footprint intensity (GWFI). Secondly, the level of AIS is measured to analyze the characteristics and evolution of the industrial structure. Finally, the Tapio decoupling elasticity coefficient was introduced to analyze the adaptability between GWF and AIS degree, and between GWFI and AIS degree. The main results showed that: (1) From 2013 to 2019, the overall decrease of GWF in Jiangsu Province reached 27.77%, presenting a change trend of fluctuation, while the GWFI strictly declined. In addition, agriculture was the largest sector of regional GWF from 2003 to 2016, and domesticity replaced agriculture as the largest water pollution source from 2017 to 2019. (2) The overall industrial structure of Jiangsu Province showed an expected evolution trend of "the proportion of primary and secondary industries declined, while that of tertiary industry increased". However, the level of AIS was not significantly improved, and the secondary industry was still in a leading position. (3) In terms of the total amount and intensity, water pollution in Jiangsu Province was well adapted to the AIS from 2003 to 2019. Among them, the strong decoupling adaptation (SDA), ideal adaptation state, was achieved between the GWF and the AIS in 75% of the year, while there has always been SDA between the GWFI and the AIS in Jiangsu Province. Therefore, regional policies aiming at achieving effective water pollution control through industrial optimization should be rationally formulated based on the findings of adaptability analysis. This study proposes an analytical framework for exploring the adaptability of water pollution and industrial structure, which should be applied to regional zoning management and is conducive to promoting sustainable support of the water environment for industrial development.