Abstract:A concept of the grey water footprint based on different receiving water bodies is proposed, and the water environment load index is introduced. We calculated the grey water footprint caused by agricultural production in Hunan Province during the period from 1985 to 2013, and compared the statuses of surface water pollution and groundwater pollution in this province. Using the IPAT model, we analyzed the grey water footprint jointly with the agricultural economy and agricultural technology, providing references for water environment protection and agricultural sustainable development in Hunan Province. The results show the following: over the last 29 years, the grey water footprint caused by agricultural production in Hunan Province has shown an increasing trend; the ratio of the grey water footprint of surface water to the grey water footprint of groundwater has been about 7∶3; and the surface water environment load index has been lower than the groundwater environment load index, indicating that the environmental condition of surface water was better than that of groundwater, but both showed a deteriorating trend. The sustainable development of agriculture in Hunan Province has experienced three stages: in the first stage, agricultural technology developed faster than the agricultural economy; in the middle and later stages, the development of the agricultural economy accelerated; and in the last stage, agricultural technology resumed development after experiencing a bottleneck period.