Association Study Between Space And Time Of Population And Water Resources In China’s Coastal Area

China’s eastern coastal area is an important zone for living and production, andhas a vital role in stimulating economic development and social progress. Accordingly,it faces heavy population pressure and contradiction between demand and supply ofwater, with a series of subsequent resource and environmental problems. It hasbecome a national issue that studying the relationship between population and waterutilization in China’s coastal area, and exploring a practical allocation plan of coastalpopulation distribution and water supply.This paper develops multi-level and multi-angle analysis for the state ofpopulation and water in China’s coastal area and cities. And their imbalance in thespace distribution is studied by the space gravity method. Two evaluation indexes forurban residential water, population controllable degree and consumption coefficient,are created to quantify their harmonious degree in the space-time scale based on themethod of water quota and Engel’s law respectively. Then summarize and verify thecauses of this incongruity. Finally, some corresponding improvements are put forwardbased on the analysis.The main results got through the study are presented below.(1) The relationshipbetween population and total water supply is influenced by many factors, while itbetween population and domestic water is mainly affected by geographical factor. Toimprove water use efficiency, China should persist in intensive water consumptionroad, and change the idea for residential water in the coastal area, especially thesouthern part.(2) In total, the distribution of coastal population and residential wateris balanced, with denser population in the north and more concentrated waterconsumption in the south. And the distribution of population is more stable than thatof water. Thus, residential water policies should be set according to the local condition,in order to control the total residential water of southern cities and improve the watercondition of northern cities in the coastal area.(3) The population of most coastalcities outnumbers the maximum value of city water quota, with a more aggravatedpopulation controlling ability.(4) Most coastal cities have a rich residential waterconsumption level, and this level is still in increase.(5) The relationship betweenpopulation controllable degree and consumption coefficient for urban residentialwater in the China’s coastal area is uncoordinated. Analysis the reasons and conclude as follows: Water price is the main reason for this problem, and it cannot play theproper regulatory role under the current living level and water scale. Another reason isthat the consumption level of residential water is still under the subsistence line, butit is not the main cause. Spatial autocorrelation is not a cause of the uncoordinated.Therefore, in order to alleviate the water pressure in the coastal area, China shouldfocus on the residential water price, with a try to applying economic leverage toreduce water waste.