The water footprint theory has provided an effective approach for evaluating the utilization of freshwater resources in agricultural production. However, there are few studies have explored the dynamic coupling relationship between water footprint and socioeconomic factors, especially from the perspective of regional ecological features. Therefore, the water footprint method was used to investigate the dynamic evolution of agricultural water consumption from 2005 to 2015 in Zhangjiakou, an extremely water-scarce city which is divided into six ecological zones (I, II, III, IV, V, and VI). Then mathematical models such as the Gini coefficient were first employed to evaluate the spatiotemporal matching characteristics of agricultural water footprint and socioeconomic factors. The results show that: (1) The agricultural water footprint increased by 1.69 × 10⁹ m³ in Zhangjiakou, of which the animal products water footprint increased by 1.59 × 10⁹ m³, accounting for 94%. (2) Cereals had always been the major contributors to crop water footprint, with an increasing contribution rate from 49% to 54%. Milk and egg products were the main drivers for the increasing water footprint of animal products, with a total contribution rate increased from 46% to 55%. Meanwhile, the spatial differentiation was significant. The contribution rate of the cereal water footprint was less than 50% in counties of high-altitude ecological zones I, II and IV in 2015, while it was higher than 50% in counties of low-altitude ecological zones III, V and VI. (3) The per unit area water footprint in counties of the ecological zone III was much higher than the average level, while per capita water footprint and per unit output value water footprint were far below it, indicating agricultural structure optimization requires a comprehensive consideration of multiple socioeconomic factors. This study is expected to provide policy-makers with scientific guidance that is conducive to agricultural water conservation and ecological zone planning.

水足迹理论为评估农业生产中淡水资源的利用提供了有效的方法。然而，很少有研究探讨水足迹与社会经济因素之间的动态耦合关系，特别是从区域生态特征的角度。因此，使用水足迹法研究了张家口市2005年至2015年农业用水的动态变化，张家口市是一个缺水极少的城市，被分为六个生态区（I，II，III，IV，V和VI） ）。然后首先使用诸如基尼系数的数学模型来评估农业水足迹和社会经济因素的时空匹配特征。结果表明：（1）农业用水足迹增加了1。张家口市⁹ m ³，其中畜产品水足迹增加1.59×10 ⁹ m ³，占94％。（2）谷物一直是作物水足迹的主要贡献者，贡献率从49％上升到54％。牛奶和鸡蛋制品是动物产品水足迹增加的主要驱动力，其总贡献率从46％增加到55％。同时，空间差异显着。2015年高海拔生态区I，II和IV县的谷物水足迹贡献率低于50％，而低海拔生态区III，V和VI县的谷类水足迹贡献率高于50％。（3）第三生态区县的单位面积水足迹远高于平均水平，而人均水足迹和单位产值水足迹却远低于平均水平；说明农业结构优化需要综合考虑多种社会经济因素。预期该研究将为决策者提供有利于农业节水和生态区规划的科学指导。