The Yellow River has long been a capricious and troublesome river. Coordinating the human-water relationship in the Yellow River Basin and achieving harmonious coexistence between human and water are urgent needs for the protection and governance of the Yellow River in the new era. In order to coordinate the human-water relationship in the Yellow River Basin in a sound manner, this paper summarized the evolution process of the human-water relationship, elaborated on the research background and significance, and proposed an overall research idea. The key issues from four aspects (i.e., cognition, theory, method, and practice) were identified, including insufficient understanding of action mechanisms and evolution processes, inadequate research on theoretical foundations and the theory of harmonious coexistence, the need to deepen research on monitoring-assessment-simulation-regulation, and the need to expand multi-level paths toward harmonious coexistence. The key research areas were clarified, including river ethics, intelligent perception equipment, water balance, improvement paths, threshold adjustment, “defining the scales based on water”, simulators, water network construction, engineering layout, and high-quality development. Combining the key issues and research areas, strategies for coordinating the human-water relationship in the Yellow River Basin were provided and prospects were presented. The results can promote the understanding and recognition of the human-water relationship in the Yellow River Basin, and provide scientific support for handling the relationship between human and water and implementing the major national strategy of the Yellow River.

With the continuous advancement of climate change and urbanization, the risk of urban flooding is increasing, and the establishment of emergency refuge sites is crucial for mitigating flooding disasters. To this end, the Jinshui River flood diversion pipeline project area in Zhengzhou City was taken as an example to analyze the reduction effect of river flood diversion measures on flood disasters, and the emergency shelter site selection model was built by combining the results of the flood risk assessment and solved by the multi-objective particle swarm optimization algorithm. The results show that the flood diversion  project significantly reduces the flood depth and impact area under the 10-year, 50-year and 200-year rainfall scenarios, but the effect of flood diversion is more limited in the case of July 20, 2021 extraordinary rainstorm. The high flood risk areas are concentrated in the more urbanized north-eastern part of the study area, and although flood risk is mitigated by the flood diversion works under the four rainfall scenarios, the overall risk remains high under the extraordinary rainstorm scenarios. Under the July 20, 2021 extraordinary rainstorm scenario after the implementation of the river diversion measures, a multi-objective optimization of site selection is carried out with the results of the flood risk assessment, and 13 optimal shelter locations are identified, with an average evacuation distance of 471.9 meters, which are able to cover 97.3% of the population in the study area.

The high proportion of new energy integration into the power grid poses significant challenges for the operation of power systems. Multi-energy complementary scheduling has become an effective approach for integrating new energy sources. This paper elaborated the characteristics of multi-energy complementary scheduling, and introduced relevant theories and methods from four aspects of new energy power forecasting, uncertainty quantification of wind and solar power, capacity configuration of multi-energy complementary systems, and multi-energy complementary scheduling. In terms of new energy power forecasting and uncertainty quantification, this paper summarized physical methods, statistical methods and combined forecasting methods. The probabilistic analysis, robust interval methods and scenario analysis methods were introduced to quantify the uncertainty of wind and PV power. Regarding the capacity configuration of multi-energy complementary systems, the paper put forward capacity planning methods based on traditional power planning and flexibility assessment. Using the Yellow River Basin and the Yalong River basin as examples, the capacity planning theories for hydro-wind-PV complementary systems as well as hydro-wind-solar-storage systems for large-scale basins were summarized.

Since the operation of Xiaolangdi Reservoir, the annual sediment load entering into the Yellow River estuary has decreased to 160 million tons. However, under the relatively abundant water conditions from 2018 to 2021, the rapid siltation of the river channel after scouring and the extension of the river length have approached the maximum value before the flood season in 1996. The disappearance of the stable branch that lasted for 10 years after the flood season in 2024 and the appearance of multiple large-scale branches on both sides of the sand spit indicate that the Qingbacha Channel has entered an unstable stage. In accordance with the natural feature of the estuary channel avulsion near the tidal zone boundary, it is recommended to implement the simultaneous flow of the Qingshuigou Channel and the Diaokouhe Channel in the Yellow River estuary. The construction of Guxian Reservoir will make the water and sediment conditions entering the estuary favorable for simultaneous flow in the future period. Under the designed water and sediment scenario, diverting 12.5 billion m3 of water for the Qingshuigou Channel can achieve a slight balance between erosion and sedimentation. The Diaokouhe Channel diverts 9 billion m3, and by digging and maintaining a 375 m wide main channel, it can achieve a flow rate of 2 000 m3/s without siltation. Simultaneous flow is conducive to raising social awareness of the protection of the Diaokouhe Channel, rationalizing the spatial distribution of sediment, increasing the proportion of sediment transported to the deep sea, and reducing the flood control pressure on the current Qingshuigou Channel. In the implementation of the specific plan, consideration should be given to the potential impact on the ecological flow of Qingshuigou Channel and the ecological water volume in the nearby waters.

Zhengzhou, as a national hub center for highways, railways and waterway transportation, the construction of water function networks is of vital importance to the high-quality development of the Zhengzhou metropolitan area under the background of developing hub economy. Based on national strategy and regional planning, this study integrated the urban flood control plans, urban modern water network construction plans, irrigation plans, “Layout Planning of Inland Waterways and Ports in Henan Province (2022-2035)”, and “Water Resources Guarantee and Water Conservancy Facilities Construction Planning in Zhengzhou Metropolitan Area”. The main objective is to ensure water security and water environmental safety, and by improving the efficient use of water resources and the reliability of waterway transportation, to create high-standard waterways that connect Zhengzhou to major rivers and seas. This will provide robust support for the development of a hub-based economy, shaping a new development pattern for Henan.

The Top Ten Tributaries Region is characterized by fragile ecosystems and severe water scarcity, which have become core challenges affecting ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin. The traditional concepts of water resources mainly focus on surface water (e.g., rivers and lakes) and groundwater that are directly accessible to humans, while overlooking soil water derived from precipitation, which constitutes the primary water source for vegetation. In view of this, a generalized water resources theory framework had been proposed to break through the limitations of traditional water resources connotations, focusing on the water that vegetation could directly utilize, and incorporating soil water that vegetation could effectively utilize into the category of water resources. By quantifying the dynamic relationship between vegetation growth and natural water cycle, the dilemma of water shortage in arid and semi-arid ecosystems could be solved. This theoretical framework redefined the scientific basis for vegetation carrying capacity of water resources in arid areas, and built a theoretical framework for dynamic balance of water resources by coupling hydrological processes, soil water storage capacity, and vegetation adaptability. We had proposed an ecological construction strategy based on defining ecological pattern by water, established a zoning system for water resources carrying capacity, and formulated differentiated vegetation configuration plans and efficient rainwater utilization technology paths. Based on the generalized water resources theory, it provides fundamental theoretical breakthroughs and practical solutions for vegetation construction in the Top Ten Tributaries Region, and also provides important scientific support and paradigm guidance for achieving high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin under the rigid constraints of water resources.

Integrated hydro-wind-photovoltaic development in river basins represents a crucial initiative for implementing low-carbon and green development principles. However, intensified climate change currently leads to increased volatility in renewable energy outputs, heightened uncertainty regarding future power generation potential, and challenges in accurately predicting the eco-environmental benefits of integrated energy bases. These factors pose significant obstacles to the efficient utilization of basin clean energy resources and ecological conservation. Therefore, the Cihaxia integrated water-wind-photovoltaic base in the upper reaches of the Yellow River was taken as the research object. The quantile mapping method, CNN-LSTM-Attention deep learning prediction model and improved theoretical output calculation method of water-wind-photovoltaic were used to screen high-precision future climate model data applicable to the study area. The daily average output of water-wind-photovoltaic power and its multi-time scale complementarity during the planned operation period of the integrated base (2035-2065) were predicted, and the ecological and environmental benefits of the integrated base were estimated. The key findings are: a) From 2035 to 2065, the predicted average annual power generation is 10.13 billion kW·h for hydropower, 1.187 billion kW·h for wind power, and 43.785 billion kW·h for photovoltaic power. Under four SSP scenarios, the average daily inflow to the Cihaxia Hydropower Station is increased by 0.97, 1.74, 1.25, and 1.99 m3/s respectively. The average daily theoretical hydropower output is increased by an average of 2.23 MW, while wind and photovoltaic outputs experience slight average decreases of 0.29 MW and 0.80 MW respectively. b) The annual power generation correlation coefficients are -0.22 for hydro-wind, 0.18 for hydro-photovoltaic, -0.10 for wind-photovoltaic and -0.03 for hydro-wind-photovoltaic combined. The hydro-wind combination exhibits stronger inter-annual complementarity, with the strongest intra-annual complementarity occurring during winter. c) The annual power generation from the integrated base can potentially replace 55.102 billion kW·h of coal-fired power, reducing carbon emissions by 48 million tonnes per year. Furthermore, replacing coal power with wind and photovoltaic generation saves approximately 108 million m3 of water annually. Additionally, the base is projected to reduce the average annual potential evapotranspiration of the underlying surface by 284.56 mm and increase the average annual Net Primary Productivity (NPP) of the ecosystem by 97.04 gC/m2.

Under the influence of climate change and rapid urbanization, the issues of urban flooding and waterlogging have become increasingly severe, and the construction of resilient cities has become an important way to address these challenges. The research progress on urban flood multi-process coupled simulation, social response mechanisms and resilience assessment were reviewed in this study. In order to enhance urban flood disaster prevention and reduction capabilities, the Xihe drainage area in Jincheng City, Shanxi Province, was selected as a case study. It incorporated hydrological and hydrodynamic processes and system emergence characteristics during stormwater flooding events into a resilience evolution framework based on system dynamics, achieving dynamic assessment of flood resilience with the integration of both “natural and social” attributes. The results show that with the extension of the recurrence period of rainfall, the load on the drainage system has significantly increased, the risks to the population and buildings have continued to rise, and the increment of urban flood resilience has shown an evolutionary feature of continuous decline.

Regional water resources security risk assessment serves as a bridge between the theoretical understanding and defensive practices of regional water resources security risk. The research on scientific, reasonable, and effective water resources security risk assessment methods has consistently been a frontier and difficult point in the field of water resources security risk defense theory and practice. On the basis of analyzing the transmission relationship structure of regional water resources security risk formed by the interaction of subsystems and their indicators of water resources security risk factors, pregnancy risk environment, risk resistance measures, vulnerability of risk bearing bodies and water resources security loss risk, the system had sorted out the determination of evaluation objectives, evaluation objects, evaluation indicator sets, evaluation indicator measurements, quantification of qualitative indicators, determination of single indicator evaluation functions, evaluation indicator weights, and comprehensive indicator evaluation functions, as well as the rationality analysis of evaluation results in the implementation of regional water resources security risk evaluation methods. Among them, the evaluation object a, evaluation index b and evaluation target c in the evaluation method system elements could correspond to the small, medium and large items in the logical structure of Aristotle’s syllogism respectively. The evaluation evidence relationship ab composed of evaluation objects and evaluation indicators, the evaluation argument relationship bc composed of evaluation indicators and evaluation objectives, and the evaluation result relationship ac composed of evaluation objects and evaluation objectives correspond to the small premise, large premise, and conclusion relationships in the logical relationship structure of Aristotle’s syllogism respectively. It could be seen that the underlying logic of the risk assessment method for regional water resources security was a complete logical reasoning process of Aristotle’s syllogism. The syllogism relationship structure of the logical reasoning process was composed of the evaluation evidence relationship ab, evaluation argument relationship bc, and evaluation result relationship ac. Synthesis of relation ac through composition of relations between ab and bc, expressed as “ac= ab@bc”. It could achieve syllogism reasoning, obtain the relationship between evaluation results, conduct empirical analysis of water resources security risk assessment, and verify the rationality of the evaluation results, forming a Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) Deming cycle in the process of water resources security risk assessment, continuously updating and improving evaluation methods, which could provide a universal research approach for continuously deepening the research on regional water resources security risk assessment methods, and also had important reference value in the general modeling ideas of resources and environmental risk assessment methods.

Against the backdrop of global water scarcity and unbalanced regional economic development, the inequity in China’s interprovincial virtual water flows, where resources-exporting regions bear environmental costs while economic-importing regions gain development dividends, is remarkable. This study, based on the 2017 Chinese multi-regional input-output table, constructed a “virtual water intensity-value added rate” correlation model, combining quadrant analysis and an equity index to quantify the virtual water economic efficiency of 19 industries in 31 provinces. The research reveals that the eastern coastal areas have formed an efficient model of “virtual water input-high value-added output”, while resources-based industries in the central and western regions face the dilemma of “high water consumption-low return”. Cases like Xinjiang’s agriculture demonstrate that water-saving technologies and high-value-added industries can resolve equity contradictions. This study provides a quantitative basis for cross-regional ecological compensation and industrial structure optimization.

The Yellow River Basin, a typical soil erosion-sensitive region in China, was selected as the research target. By constructing a multi-model framework integrating InVEST-USLE, Random Forest, XGBoost, and Attention-LSTM, and using multi-source remote sensing and climate data from 2000 to 2023, the dynamic evolution of soil erosion under six future scenarios from 2024 to 2050 was simulated. The coupled impacts of climate change and ecological restoration measures were systematically evaluated, revealing the driving mechanisms and regulatory thresholds of soil erosion. The results show that: a) precipitation is the primary driver of soil erosion, and vegetation regulation exhibits significant threshold characteristics; b) the model identifies a distinct “recent dominance” of soil erosion, with better prediction performance for long-term series; c) scenario simulations reveal that under high-emission pathways, without ecological restoration, the soil erosion modulus will continue to increase. While a high-intensity ecological restoration can significantly mitigate erosion trends, the erosion reduction benefits are delayed. These findings provide quantitative support for the zoning and dynamic regulatory mechanisms of soil and water conservation in the Yellow River Basin. It is recommended that critical thresholds and time-lag effects be incorporated into future ecological governance policy frameworks to improve the precision and effectiveness of regional ecological management.

Yulin in Northern Shaanxi is rich in high-quality coal resources. However, large-scale coal mining has caused severe damage to regional water resources. Taking Yulin coal mine as the study area, this study built a Relative Risk Model (RRM) to quantify the stress effects of risk sources including industrial development, mining-induced collapse and groundwater drainage on four types of receptors of social water stress, underlying surface, vegetation ecology and water resources. By dividing 84 watershed risk units, the study used log-normalization of risk values and natural break classification to zone the study area into five risk levels, proposing differentiated protection strategies. The results show that the mining-induced collapse is the primary risk source (contributing 52% of the risk value). The underlying surface and vegetation ecology are sensitive receptors (accounting for 35% and 28% of the risk value respectively). Level I risk areas require prioritized surface restoration and comprehensive utilization of drained water, while Level V areas need to be given attention, and buffer zones should be delineated.

The application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in water resources management aims to solve complex issues such as water scarcity, water environmental pollution, and water ecological degradation. Its core idea is to utilize the data processing, pattern recognition and predictive analysis capabilities of Artificial Intelligence to build an intelligent solution for water resources management. This paper mainly studied the current development status, key technologies and practical application effects of AI technology in the field of water resources, and explored its application potential in the three core fields of hydrological prediction and analysis, water quality monitoring and assessment, and water resources management and optimization. Based on comprehensive research, the main algorithms and typical applications of AI in water resources management were analyzed, such as the application of models like Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) and Transformer in hydrological prediction, the application of Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) in water quality monitoring and the application of algorithms like DDPG and DQN in reservoir regulation. The practical applications of AI technology in scenarios such as water level prediction, flood forecasting, inversion of water quality parameters and intelligent irrigation were discussed. The future development direction of AI application in the field of water resources management was prospected, emphasizing the need to enhance the integration of physical mechanisms and data-driven methods, improve model transparency, and provide technical support for building a smart water resources management system.

With the proposal of the major national strategy of ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin, the research on the Yellow River Basin has become increasingly abundant. This paper mainly reviewed the literature on the high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin from the perspectives of its connotation, level measurement and spatial pattern, constraining factors, multi-dimensional studies, development paths and future directions. The results show that a) the connotation of high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin has been continuously enriched, expanding from economic development to the areas such as regional coordination, rural revitalization and cultural-tourism integration. b) By building different evaluation index systems, the measurements of the high-quality development level of the Yellow River Basin indicate that its spatial pattern is closely related to the administrative hierarchy of cities. c) Constraints to high-quality development in the basin include water resources conflicts, difficulties in industrial structure adjustment and transformation, and insufficient support from scientific and technological innovation capabilities. d) Studies on the high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin have been carried out around dimensions such as industrial structure optimization, technological innovation, urban and city cluster development, and cultural-tourism integration. e) The development paths mainly focus on strengthening ecological environment and industrial layout, promoting economic structure transformation and upgrading, and accelerating institutional and mechanism innovation. f) Future research should focus on interdisciplinary studies, multi-dimensional coupling and coordination research, comprehensive integration of multi-source data methods, and refined policy research based on zoning, grading and classification.

In order to scientifically evaluate the spatial-temporal characteristics of water-saving levels, identify key influencing factors, reveal the spatial equilibrium patterns in the Yellow River water-receiving area of Henan Province, provide a scientific basis for optimizing water resources allocation and formulate differentiated water-saving policies, a water-saving evaluation index system was built, encompassing five dimensions of comprehensive, agricultural, industrial, domestic, and ecological with 12 quantitative indicators. The TOPSIS method was employed to dynamically assess the water-saving levels of 14 prefecture-level cities in the Yellow River water-receiving areas of Henan Province from 2014 to 2023. Additionally, based on the DEMATEL method and spatial equilibrium analysis, the key influencing factors and their regional differentiation characteristics were systematically analyzed. The results indicate that a) from 2014 to 2023, the average water-saving level in the Yellow River water-receiving areas of Henan Province is classified as Level IV on a 5-level evaluation scale, indicating a relatively low level, with significant spatial heterogeneity in water-saving levels among prefecture-level cities. b) Using the DEMATEL method, five main influencing factors are identified and ranked by their degree of impact: the proportion of planned water users (C2) > water consumption per 10 000 yuan of GDP (C1) > effective utilization coefficient of farmland irrigation water (C5) > water consumption per 10 000 yuan of industrial added value (C7) > proportion of saved water (C3). c) The spatial equilibrium of water-saving in the study area generally remains relatively stable but exhibits a slight declining trend over time, reflecting potential risks of regional imbalance in water-saving development. Therefore, it is essential to strengthen water-saving policy guidance and optimize water resources allocation to ensure sustainable development.

While the cascade reservoir group is exerting comprehensive benefits, it has significantly altered the carbon and nitrogen cycle paths of rivers, forming a “source-sink duality” of greenhouse gases (GHGs). This paper systematically reviewed the progress and challenges of research on the GHGs source-sink effect of gradient reservoirs in sediment-laden rivers. In terms of monitoring technology, existing technologies such as flux chambers and eddy covariance complement each other, thereby enhancing GHGs flux observation capabilities, furthermore, acoustic surveys and sediment coring techniques have optimized the assessment of carbon burial. However, the precision of multi-source data monitoring and data fusion continues to constrain the accurate evaluation of source-sink effects. Concerning the spatial-temporal distribution patterns of these sources and sinks, GHGs fluxes exhibit distinct longitudinal gradients along the cascade reservoirs and vertical stratification within the water column; specifically, the drawdown zone emerges as a significant hotspot for enhanced emissions due to frequent wet-dry alternation; the cascade reservoirs trigger the accumulation of GHGs by extending hydraulic retention times, altering dissolved oxygen states, and transforming organic matter composition. Regarding the underlying mechanisms influencing these GHGs dynamics, sediment plays a pivotal role: density currents transport and deposit external organic carbon, serving as a crucial substrate, while sediment resuspension disturbances critically affect redox microenvironments at the sediment-water interface. Simultaneously, hydrodynamic conditions directly govern CO2 diffusion efficiency across the air-water interface, influence CH4 bubble transport pathways and dissolution within the water column, and regulate N2O production dynamics via impacts on nitrification and denitrification processes. Notably, in highly sediment-laden rivers like the Yellow River, suspended sediments uniquely promote the proliferation of methanogens directly within the water column, fostering a distinct emission pattern characterized by methanogenesis occurring in the water itself, rather than solely in the sediments. For optimization and regulation, GHGs models have evolved from empirical statistics to mechanism-machine learning fusion, but the existing multi-objective optimization models still lack quantification of water-sediment-GHGs coupling mechanisms. In view of the above issues, it is urgent to build a tracking observation system of GHGs source-sink effects in the middle reaches of the Yellow River in the group of terraced reservoirs, the spatial-temporal variability of GHGs sources and sinks and their key influencing factors, elucidate the biogeochemical process of water-sediment-GHGs interactions, and optimize the water-sediment regulation model of the cascade reservoirs.

The integrated control of small watersheds in the Yellow River Basin is an important part of implementing the national strategy of ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin. In view of the control issues caused by the stepped landform, the characteristics of the climate-vegetation transition zone and the vulnerability of the cascading ecology within the basin, the core contradictions of the comprehensive management of small watersheds were analyzed from three perspectives. In terms of the natural system dimension, it was reflected in the dual pressures of resources and the environment faced by the upstream, midstream and downstream respectively. In terms of the technical system dimension, it was reflected in the lag between the rigid constraints of the resources background and the adaptability of management technologies. In the dimension of the management system, it was reflected in the fragmentation of cross-departmental rights and responsibilities, weak cross-regional collaborative capabilities, and the imbalance between protection and development goals. Building upon this analysis, this study proposes pathways to address the systemic challenges in integrated small watershed management: establishing a resilience enhancement pathway centered on “soil and water conservation, resources efficiency improvement, ecological restoration and climate adaptation”; developing a dynamic intelligent zoning and digital twin decision support system; devising a cross-domain authority-responsibility integration mechanism and a trilateral compensation system for water quality, quantity and sediment; and creating an eco-industrial value-added chain with ecological credit conversion channels. These proposals provide scientific underpinnings for overcoming the systemic challenges in integrated small watershed management within the Yellow River Basin and exploring pathways to improve its quality and efficiency.

In order to promote the efficient and stable development of the water conservancy industry in the Yellow River Basin, the new quality productive forces index of water conservancy was calculated by using the comprehensive index method, the spatial-temporal evolution characteristics were analyzed based on MATLAB, Arcgis10.8 and Gini coefficient, and the obstacle factors were discussed by using the obstacle degree model. The results show that： a) the new quality productive forces of water conservancy in the Yellow River Basin has shown a fluctuating growth trend, with Henan having the highest increase and Shanxi having the lowest increase. Among them, the increase in the number of new laborers is the greatest in Henan Province and the smallest in Qinghai Province. The increase in the number of new labor objects is the greatest in Qinghai Province and the smallest in Shanxi Province. The increase in the number of new labor materials is the greatest in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and the smallest in Gansu Province. b) The regional differences of new quality productive forces of water conservancy in the Yellow River Basin show a fluctuating downward trend. The new quality productive forces of water conservancy is in a northeast-southwest pattern, and the center of gravity shows a general trend of moving southward (migrating northeastward in 2021-2022). The Gini coefficient in the upstream, middle and lower reaches and the Gini coefficient between the upstream and middle and lower reaches regions show a decreasing trend of inverted N-shape, M-shape and inverted N-shape respectively. The differentiation contribution rate within the region > the contribution rate of the hypervariable density > the contribution rate of differentiation between regions. c) The regional differences in the main obstacle factors of new quality productive forces in the Yellow River Basin are significant. The first obstacle factor in Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan and Shandong is the number of employees in the water resources units, the proportion of education expenditure, per capita medical and health expenditure, water consumption per ten thousand yuan of GDP, solid waste discharge, solid waste discharge, comprehensive water supply capacity at the end of the year, the number of computers used per hundred people in enterprises and sulfur dioxide discharge. Based on the research results, suggestions are put forward in order to promote the development of quality productivity in the Yellow River Basin.

This study aimed to explore the influence of landscape patterns to the soil erosion in the Yihe River Basin and provide references for formulating new-era soil and water conservation plans. Using the data from 2018 to 2022 including DEM, precipitation, soil erodibility, NDVI and land use, we calculated the multiple landscape indices at a 10 m×10 m grid scale. The soil erosion modulus was determined through the CSLE. The proportion of soil erosion area in each sub-basin was set as the dependent variable, with landscape indices and socio-economic factors as independent variables. The optimal parameter-based geographical detector was employed to quantify the explanatory power of individual variables and their interactions. Finally, we analyzed how landscape patterns influence soil erosion dynamics. The results indicate that a) although both the area and intensity of soil erosion in the Yihe River Basin exhibit a decreasing trend, there remains a risk of slight and mild erosion escalating to higher severity levels. b) The fragmentation of landscape patches in the Yihe River Basin has intensified, evidenced by increased patch numbers and density across cultivated land, forest land, grassland, construction land and water bodies. This fragmentation process has been accompanied by reduced connectivity among these land use types. Notably, while landscape patches in cultivated land, grassland and construction land exhibited orderly and regular configurations, those in forest land and water bodies display more irregular and complex morphologies. c) Landscape fragmentation significantly influences the spatial-temporal heterogeneity of soil erosion in the Yi River Basin. This relationship is evidenced by the strong explanatory capacity of key landscape metrics, including patch edge density, dispersion index and perimeter-area fractal dimension in interpreting the observed spatial-temporal variations in soil erosion patterns. d) Socio-economic factors significantly contribute to the spatial-temporal heterogeneity of soil erosion. Anthropogenic modifications through surface disturbances alter landscape configurations, consequently driving spatial-temporal erosion dynamics. This mechanism is substantiated by the enhanced explanatory power generated through interactions between socio-economic drivers and landscape pattern metrics.

In order to explore the role of new quality productive forces in the relationship between digital economy and industrial water use efficiency and the impact of digital economy on industrial water use efficiency, based on panel data from 30 provinces in China from 2013 to 2022, this study measured the development levels of the digital economy and new quality productive forces, and employed the fixed effects model, the mediation effects model and the spatial effects model to examine the impact of the digital economy on industrial water use efficiency. The results show that the digital economy significantly promotes the industrial water use efficiency, and this conclusion remains robust across multiple tests. New quality productive forces mediate the relationship between the digital economy and industrial water use efficiency, whereby the digital economy indirectly improves industrial water use efficiency by fostering the development of such forces. Spatial heterogeneity analysis further reveals that the digital economy has a positive effect in western and northeastern regions, but a negative effect in central China.

Excessive exploitation of groundwater can cause a series of ecological and environmental problems, essentially due to the intensity of human exploitation exceeding the carrying capacity of groundwater resources and the lack of timely and effective warning. In order to study the carrying capacity of groundwater resources in the lower reaches of the Yishu River and solve the issue of dual control of groundwater that had not been reflected in previous research on carrying capacity, a three-level evaluation index system was established with carrying capacity as the target layer, the quantity, quality, ecology and social attributes of groundwater resources as the criterion layer, and the background and status as the indicator layers of each criterion layer attribute. Firstly, it evaluated the three criteria layers of water resources quantity, water environmental quality and aquatic ecology, selected the worst result as the initial evaluation result of carrying capacity, and revised the social and economic level evaluation result to obtain the final evaluation result. At the same time, the dual control indicators of groundwater, namely the total amount of groundwater extraction control and the limited extraction water level were respectively introduced into the analysis of the degree of groundwater exploitation in the indicator layer and the degree of regional groundwater level control, and evaluated the groundwater carrying capacity of Sucheng District, Suqian City. The evaluation results show that the hydrogeological background is the fundamental factor affecting the carrying capacity background, and human behavior, especially the effective implementation of dual control management of groundwater, plays a decisive role in the development trend of groundwater resource carrying capacity; The introduction of dual control indicators for groundwater during the evaluation process can effectively reduce the arbitrariness of human evaluation, thereby more accurately reflecting the actual situation of regional groundwater utilization.

In order to understand the current situation of agricultural water resources security in the People’s Victory Channel irrigation area, based on single index quantification, multi-factor integration and multi-criteria aggregation methods (SMI-P method), a comprehensive weight was determined by using ordinal relationship analysis and coefficient of variation methods. An agricultural water resources security evaluation system was established for the People’s Victory Channel irrigation area in Henan Province, quantifying agricultural water resources security from three dimensions of the irrigation subsystem, the ecological subsystem and the water resources subsystem. The results show that from 2011 to 2020, the agricultural water resources security index in the People’s Victory Channel irrigation area exhibits a fluctuating increasing trend, with safety levels rated as “basically safe” and “safe”. Since 2016, the security situation of agricultural water resources has improved significantly. The security indexes of the irrigation and ecological subsystems have generally increased due to facility upgrades, management optimization and enhanced ecological protection, but are constrained by local water resources endowment, resulting in a relatively small and more fluctuating safety index for the water resources subsystem. In the future, efforts should continue to be made to strengthen the scientific scheduling of water resources and promotion of water-saving irrigation technologies, optimize the management of canal systems and ecological protection measures, enhance the efficiency of agricultural water resources utilization, and ensure sustainable agricultural development and food security in the irrigation area.