Abstract: Controlling water pollution and improving water environment quality is conducive to the high-quality development of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project's Central Route. On the basis of calculating the grey water footprint of 20 water-receiving cities of the Project's Central Route, this paper calculated the grey water footprint load coefficient of each water-receiving city, analyzed the spatial-temporal distribution characteristics. The Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index model was used to decompose the driving factors. The results showed that: (1) From 2009 to 2020, the grey water footprint in water-receiving area decreased by 24.54%, and the water environment quality was improved; From the perspective of the composition of grey water footprint, agriculture accounted for the highest proportion, followed by living, and industry for the lowest. Moreover, the effective control of pollution from agricultural and industrial sources was the main reason for the overall decline of the total grey water footprint. (2) After the water supply of the Central Route, the grey water footprint load coefficient of the water-receiving area decreased to certain extent. However, the total amount of water resources still failed to meet the dilution demand of water pollutants, and hence, the water environment pressure was large. The load coefficient of grey water footprint in water-receiving cities was significantly different. The difference within the regions, especially within Henan Province, was the main source of the unbalance of grey water footprint load coefficient. (3) The capital deepening effect, resource endowment effect and economic activity effect mainly showed positive effects on the grey water footprint load coefficient, while the capital output and economic environment effects showed negative driving effects. All water-receiving cities should continue to take the road of green development and promote the sustainable utilization of water resources in the South-to-North Water Diversion Project's Central Route.