Based on the improved analytic hierarchy process, the authors adopted a 3-scale (0, 1, 2) matrix method to establish regional water ecological security assessment system including 3 layers and 24 indicators according to the real conditions of water environment in Xingtai City. The ecological security assessment system could analyze the influence factors of water environmental security status and evaluate the security situation in Xingtai City. The results showed that the five top influence factors were sewage treatment rate, annual precipitation, wastewater total amount, industrial waste water discharged and urban residential domestic sewage in the 24 indicators. The composite evaluating indexes of the water environment ecological security were within the bandwidth of 0.36 to 0.63, which indicated that the water environment ecological security was still in severe with general or poor state. Some coping strategies and suggestions were put forward to water environmental safety in Xingtai City. The research would provide a theoretical basis for water resource sustainable utilization and a reference for the similar natural condition areas.

Using the carbon footprint model, the carbon footprint of energy consumption and the ecological pressure of carbon footprint were analyzed from 2003 to 2013 in Xingtai City, Hebei Province, China. The results show that, in Xingtai City, the energy consumption was increasing during the past 10 years, with the consumption of fossil energy resources accounting for around 50% of total consumed energy. In the consumption of fossil energy, coal was primary energy. This is an inevitable result from the policies of coal supply. The per capita carbon footprint from total energy consumption and the per capita carbon footprint from coal consumption increased in a fluctuation way. The per capita carbon footprint from petroleum consumption changed slightly. The change of per capita carbon footprint from gas consumption showed a fluctuation stage, and then followed a sharp increase stage. The ecological pressure of carbon footprint show an increasing tendency, suggesting that CO2 production from the energy utilization has been far beyond the absorptivity of woodland. Therefore, the paper proposes feasible means and corresponding countermeasures on energy utilization and industrial structure in the future, which would provide the strategy-making reference for the continual development in optimization energy structure and establishment the low-carbon economic development model in Xingtai City.