Abstract: The spatial and temporal characteristics of the per capita water resources ecological footprint in Liaoning Province were investigated via water resources ecological footprint model in consideration of the water resources ecological carrying capacity and the ecological profit and loss index.The influencing factors of the water resources ecological footprint in Liaoning Province from 2010 to 2019 were also explored by using LMDI (Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index) model.Results reveal that:1) The per capita ecological footprint of water resources in Liaoning Province is stable in temporal scale but differed remarkably in spatial scale.Agricultural water use accounted for the largest proportion, followed by industrial water use, domestic water use and eco-environmental water in sequence.The cities of Dandong, Tieling, Anshan, Benxi, and Huludao were in ecological surplus while other administrative regions were in ecological deficit to different degrees, among which the city of Panjin suffered from the most severe ecological deficit and inferior ecological situation.2) Except from the city of Benxi which has the highest proportion of industrial water use, the whole of Liaoning Province and its administrative regions are dominated by agricultural water use, followed by industrial water use;the proportions of domestic water use and eco-environmental water use are relatively low but both have increased slightly.3) Factor decomposition suggest that economic factor is the leading factor contributing to the growth of water resources ecological footprint, while structural factor and population factor have slight influence on the change of the ecological footprint, and on the contrary, technical factor restrains the rapid growth of the ecological footprint of water resources in Liaoning Province.

Key words: water resources ecological footprint, spatio-temporal variation, exponential factor decomposition method, LMDI model, Liaoning Province