Abstract: There are abundant coal, petroleum and natural gas resources in China’s golden delta of energy. The exploitation of energy resources together with the related industries drives and supports the regional socio-economic development. But the region is located in the northwest of China, facing with severe water supply shortage. With Ningxia autonomous region as an example, the status of water resources is analyzed in this paper. Furthermore, on the premises of the balance constraint of regional water, the lowest per capita living water security constraint, the lowest per capita food security constraint and the regional eco-environmental water constraint, the method of optimizing the allocation of water resources among industries is given through calculations of potential water-saving quantity in the condition of marginal output equilibrium. Finally, policies of reducing the gap of water utilizing efficiency among industries are put forward.

Key words: golden delta of energy region, water resources, optimal allocation, use efficiency, policy suggestions, water consumption per GDP