Water scarcity footprint assessment for China's shale gas development

•Both direct and indirect water consumption of shale gas production in China are estimated.•The average water consumption for shale gas production is about 600 m3 water/106m3 gas.•Water scarcity footprint (WSF) of shale gas production in China's 31 provinces is assessed.•The average WSF of China's shale gas production is 16,556 m3 world. eq/106m3 gas.•13 provinces must be cautious for shale gas production due to high WSFs.