The effect of consumption of water resources on economic growth is considered from the aspects of water consumption and structure. The magnitude of damping of water resources on the economic growth of five provinces in Northwest China is measured by using the improved C-D production function and the Romer damping analysis model from the aspect of the third industry, and the coefficient of structural deviation is used to measure the dynamic changes of consumption structure of water resources and industrial structure. From the consumption of water resources, the output elasticity of capital and technology of the third industry of five provinces in Northwest China is greater than that of labor and water resources, indicating that the economic development in the northwestern areas is strongly dependent on the capital and technology. And there are more areas with growth damping for the second industry, which means the second industry is more dependent on water resources. From the perspective of structure of water consumption, the allocation of water resources basically reaches the optimal efficiency between the second and third industries, but the distribution between the first and second and that between the first and third industries are uneven. The structural changes in water consumption lags behind those in industrial structure, and the consumption structure of water resources and industrial structure are not coordinated. Based on these results, some policy proposals are put forward as follows: increase of water use efficiency in various areas, decrease of water consumption, improvement of water use structure, and promotion of water resources towards the second and third industries.