Promoting water conservation is crucial for building a modern ecological civilization. The water resource tax helps enforce water-saving policies and strict usage controls. The difference-in-differences (DID) method avoids endogeneity and omitted variable bias, making it ideal for policy evaluation. Using the 2017 pilot water tax expansion as a quasi-natural experiment, this study applies DID to assess the reform’s impact on total factor productivity (TFP) in water-intensive industries. The results indicate that the TFP of water-intensive enterprises in pilot regions increased by an average of 2.5% and that the reform has a positive and significant effect on TFP, with notable improvements in management efficiency and resource allocation. The findings further imply that the reform encourages better management practices, such as optimized water use and cost-effective resource allocation, rather than technological innovation as the main driver of improved productivity. This underscores tax reforms’ dual role in enhancing operational efficiency and environmental sustainability. The findings demonstrate water resource tax reforms’ potential to foster a more sustainable industrial sector, especially in water-stressed regions.

Assessing rural habitat suitability and its connection to land response is a vital tool for understanding the socio-economic and environmental challenges in rural areas tailored to local contexts. This study fills existing research gaps by examining the suitability of rural habitats in Anhui Province, opening pathways to reveal how rural sustainability may connect to land. Using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model, it analyzes the short- and long-term effects of socio-economic and environmental factors on rural suitability across various counties. Additionally, a descriptive analysis explores the pathways linking rural suitability to land use responses. The findings reveal that rural greening, village planning, and housing area per resident positively influence rural habitat suitability in both the short and long term. However, agricultural income growth shows a negative impact, potentially due to structural issues in the sector. Environmental factors like temperature and rainfall have a limited influence on rural suitability. The study underscores the importance of suitable rural infrastructure, namely enhancing rural greening rate, implementing village plans, and improving housing for sustainable rural development. Regional variations in rural habitat suitability across Anhui Province are also evident. While some cities, such as Huaibei and Anqing, demonstrate success in revitalization, others, like Suzhou and Chizhou, face challenges. The results highlight the need for region-specific strategies that account for local environmental, economic, and infrastructural contexts. Tailored approaches are essential to achieving long-term, effective rural development in the province.