Spatiotemporal Patterns and Spillover Effects of Water Footprint Economic Benefits in the Poyang Lake City Group, Jiangxi

The evolution of spatiotemporal patterns of water footprint economic benefits (WFEB) in the 32 counties (cities and districts) of the Poyang Lake City Group in Jiangxi Province was evaluated based on panel data. Where after, the spatial spillover effects of the regional WFEB in the Poyang Lake City Group were investigated using the spatial Durbin model (SDM). The results showed a rising trend in the total water footprint (WF) and WFEB of the Poyang Lake City Group from 2010 to 2013, and the number of cities at the levels of high efficiency in the Poyang Lake City Group increased steadily. Clear local spatial autocorrelations were found in WFEB, the degree of spatial clustering of WFEB gradually strengthened during 2010-2013, and the spatial agglomeration of WFEB in the Poyang Lake City Group mainly showed Low-High and Low-Low types of trends, which accounted for 9.4% and 12.5%, respectively, of the four types of trends. Our SDM analysis further confirmed significant spatial dependence of WFEB in the Poyang Lake City Group in Jiangxi Province.