Abstract: Water resources utilization efficiency is one of the key issues in water resources study. This paper presents the development of an evaluation model of water resources utilization efficiency using a method of improved rank correlation analysis. This model uses an evaluation index system constructed specifically for China, consistency test for selecting index ranks suggested by experts to eliminate the orders that fail the test and the idea of circular revision, to unify the index ranks of importance. It determines the relative importance of two adjacent indexes according to the ratios of their standard deviations. The model has been applied to the efficiency evaluations for 31 provincial administrative districts of China. The results indicate that the utilization efficiency is lower in the western regions and higher in the eastern regions. We have used the Moran’s I index to examine the global and local spatial distributions of the utilization efficiency in China under gradient development. This reveals that the utilization efficiency has strong spatial dependence and most of the districts are characterized by a HH, or LL, type. Thus, we conclude that China’s existing water resources utilization efficiency is featured with obvious gradient development, and suggest that systematic policies and measures should be taken to reduce the regional differences.