Decoupling and Driving Factors of Economic Growth and Groundwater Consumption in the Coastal Areas of the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Sea

Abstract

Seawater intrusion has occurred in the coastal area of the Yellow Sea and the Bohai Sea as early as the 1970s, and the situation is worsening, with rapid socioeconomic development in recent years. Substantial amounts of groundwater have been exploited to support socioeconomic activities, especially agricultural activities, causing a reduction in the groundwater level, and hence the intrusion of seawater. This issue seriously restricts the sustainable socioeconomic development of these coastal areas. To this end, this paper applied the improved Tapio decoupling theory to analyze the degree of decoupling, and the spatial difference between the economic growth and the groundwater consumption of the five provinces and cities in the coastal areas of the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea in the period of 2003-2016. Based on the improved STIRPAT (Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology) model and panel data, we determined the driving factors of groundwater consumption in the coastal areas of the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea. The results demonstrated that the effective irrigation area of farmland should be expanded, new water-saving technology should be introduced, the crop planting structure should be readjusted, and the consumption of groundwater should be reduced. By implementing these measures, it would be possible to contain seawater intrusion in the coastal areas of the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea.Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea elevated the challenges of groundwater ecological environment protection. Overexploitation of groundwater in the process of socioeconomic activities (especially agricultural activities) is depleting groundwater resources, causing seawater intrusion and adversely affecting the groundwater-dependent ecosystems. Therefore, understanding the decoupling relationship between economic growth and groundwater consumption would offer an important theoretical basis for adopting groundwater management and protection measures, in order to prevent further expansion of seawater intrusion and to achieve sustainable economic development.The term "Decoupling" originally refers to the different trends of change between two physical quantities in physics. Later, similar terminology was applied in the economic field [8]. The idea was to indicate that while the economy is growing, the availability of a specific resource is depleting, i.e., breaking the link between environmental load and economic performance. Based on the driving force-environmental pressure-environmental state conditions, OECD(Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries have established a systematic set of indicators to divide the state between economic development and resource consumption into relative decoupling and absolute decoupling relationships [9,10]. Based on the OECD decoupling model, Tapio [11] and colleagues developed the Tapio decoupling model which classifies decoupling into eight categories: strong decoupling, expansion relative decoupling, recessionary decoupling, strong negative decoupling, weak...

Research on the Decoupling of Water Resources Utilization and Agricultural Economic Development in Gansu Province from the Perspective of Water Footprint

“…The Tapio decoupling model has been widely used in the field of resources and environment since the decoupling theory was proposed, and the decoupling status of water resources utilization and economic development has become an important indicator for judging regional sustainable development. Qiu et al (2018) [ 7 ] chose the improved Tapio decoupling theory and Stirpat model to explore the spatial difference and decoupling degree of economic growth and groundwater consumption along the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea coasts. Wang et al (2018) [ 8 ] quantified the relationship between urban economic growth and water use in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou by establishing a water resource decoupling model and a water environment decoupling model.…”

Is Urban Economic Output Decoupling from Water Use in Developing Countries?—Empirical Analysis of Beijing and Shanghai, China

“…Hu et al [62] and Wang et al [63] studied the decoupling relationship and driving factors between water consumption and economic growth in Jiangxi and Tianjin, respectively, based on the LMDI and Tapio decoupling models. Qiu et al [64] used the improved Tapio decoupling model and the STochastic Impacts by Regression (STIRPAT) model to explore the driving factors of groundwater consumption in the Yellow Sea and the coastal area of the Bohai Sea. Li et al [65] analyzed the decoupling relationship between water consumption and economic growth in China's textile industry, and used the Laspeyres decomposition method to decompose the decoupling factors, and proposed a strategic approach to achieve strong decoupling.…”

Analysis of the Agricultural Economy and Agricultural Pollution Using the Decoupling Index in Chengdu, China

“…Long [16] refers to resource consumption and environmental pollution as ecological loss and analyzed the economic growth, ecological loss and welfare levels in the process of urbanization. The remaining scholars use the decoupling index to analyze the relationship between economy and environment, such as the impact of economic, energy and environmental factors on eco-efficiency performance indicators [17], economic growth and groundwater consumption [18], economic growth and environmental pollution [19], economic growth and environmental pressure [20], and economic growth and environmental conditions [21].…”