As a major grain-producing province in China’s Central Plains, Henan Province is severely impacted by drought, making the study of agricultural drought characteristics in the region crucial. Theil–Sen (Sen) trend analysis, the Mann–Kendall (M-K) test and the Hurst index method were used to systematically analyze the spatial variation characteristics of agricultural drought based on the Temperature Vegetation Dryness Index (TVDI). The results show that: (1) The drought occurs in central, northwestern and southern Henan on an annual scale. The drought situation will continue to increase in northern, eastern northeastern and central Henan. (2) The drought in spring, summer and winter showed an increasing trend, but the opposite trend was observed in autumn. The increasing trend of drought in each season is mainly distributed in northern, central and eastern Henan. (3) The drought in January, February, April, July, September and December showed an increasing trend, while the drought in the other 6 months showed a decreasing trend. The increase in drought during July and August was not pronounced, while the drought situation in September remained largely unchanged. The distribution of drought across the other months exhibited varying patterns across different regions. Overall, the drought trend in Henan Province is on the rise, displaying distinct seasonal and regional patterns in its temporal and spatial distribution. The results can provide a reference for Henan Province to formulate effective measures of drought resistance and disaster reduction to ensure grain production.

Water deficit and soil salinization are the primary abiotic stress factors hindering maize growth. To assess the effect of water and salt stress on xylem embolism in maize and investigate the relationship between drought resistance and xylem vulnerability, a greenhouse experiment was designed using two maize cultivars, Zhengdan 958 (drought-resistant) and Denghai 605 (drought-sensitive). Four treatments were included: control (CK), water deficit (WD), salt stress (SS), and combined water and salt stress (WS). Various hydraulic characteristic indicators, such as stem xylem water potential, leaf xylem water potential, the specific hydraulic conductivity ($K_s$) and percentage loss of conductivity (PLC), were analyzed. Specific hydraulic conductivity curves and vulnerability curves were constructed, and the hydraulic safety margin (HSM) of the xylem was determined based on stomatal conductance ($G_s$). The results indicated that the hydraulic conductivity and embolism resistance of maize xylem were not correlated. Compared to Denghai 605, Zhengdan 958 had lower maximum specific hydraulic conductivity $K_{\mathrm{s}\mathrm{m}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{x}}$ and $P_{50}$ values (xylem water potential at 50% PLC) in all treatments, indicating lower water transport capacity but stronger resistance to embolism. Under single-cultivar conditions, salt stress had a greater inhibitory effect on $K_{\mathrm{s}\mathrm{m}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{x}}$ and HSM in maize xylem compared to water deficit; thus, more severe embolism was found under salt stress. Under different treatment conditions, Zhengdan 958 had a larger HSM than Denghai 605, showing a wider water transport safety range and overall superior water transport security. To summarize, water and salt stress inhibited the water transport efficiency of the xylem in maize stems, and stronger drought-resistant cultivars showed greater resistance to embolism and larger hydraulic safety margins.

Water ecological civilization is an important component and basic guarantee of ecological civilization. With the comprehensive development of ecological civilization in China, the practice of water ecological civilization village construction has been carried out one after another. The establishment of an evaluation index system of rural water ecological civilization is an important step in the construction of rural water ecological civilization from the theoretical stage to the practical application stage. Based on China's rural water conditions, this study constructed an evaluation index system, including 21 evaluation indicators of seven subsystems: water security, water environment, water ecology, water management, water landscape, water culture, and regional characteristic indicators. The indicator weights are determined by the analytic hierarchy process, a set-pair analysis model is established, and typical rural were selected for instance verification. The results show that the evaluation index system of rural water ecological civilization is reasonable, and the comprehensive evaluation model is also feasible.

In the context of water scarcity, understanding the mechanisms influencing and altering agricultural water consumption can offer valuable insights into the scientific management of limited water resources. Using Henan Province as a case study, this research applies the Mann–Kendall test method, the spatial Markov transfer chain model, the optimal parameter geo-detector model, and the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) decomposition method to investigate the evolution characteristics of agricultural water consumption in Henan Province and its key influencing factors. The findings revealed the following: (1) Agricultural water consumption has shown a significant decline from 1999 to 2022. (2) According to observations, the stability of agricultural water consumption exceeds the spillover effect, and cross-border grade transfer is challenging. Moreover, this phenomenon is influenced by the neighboring regions. (3) The key influencing factors of added agricultural value are the sown area of food crops, total sown area, irrigated area, and average annual air temperature. (4) Among the decomposition effects on agricultural water consumption, the contribution of each decomposition effect to changes in agricultural water consumption and the role of spatial distribution exhibit notable differences. Overall, these findings provide theoretical references for the efficient use of agricultural water resources and sustainable development in the region.

In recent years, the increasing frequency of extreme rainfall has exacerbated urban waterlogging, which has seriously constrained the sustainable development of cities. Given the problem that the impact of social information on waterlogging risk is easy to ignore in the urban risk waterlogging assessment process, it is of great significance to carry out a comprehensive waterlogging risk assessment and identify the waterlogging risk for urban waterlogging prevention and control. Based on the hazard–vulnerability assessment framework, this study comprehensively considers the flood disaster hazard and socio-economic vulnerability to carry out a multi-scenario urban waterlogging risk assessment in the central urban area of Zhoukou. The results show that, in comprehensive risk assessment, the area proportions are expressed as medium risk > low risk > higher risk > high risk. For a single waterlogging hazard assessment, the area proportions are shown as low risk > medium risk > higher risk > high risk. The difference ranges in area proportions of low, medium, higher, and high risk are (−61.00%, −54.00%), (49.00%, 56.00%), (1.30%, 2.70%), and (1.80%, 4.00%), respectively. It can be seen that compared with the single waterlogging hazard assessment, in the comprehensive waterlogging risk assessment with the introduction of the vulnerability factor, the waterlogging risk in the area with highly waterlogging vulnerability increases correspondingly, while the waterlogging risk in the area with low waterlogging vulnerability decreases relatively, and the waterlogging risk assessment results are more in line with the actual situation.