This paper adopts the data of 30 provincial-level regions in China from 2000 to 2016 (in which the data of Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and Tibet are not collected), builds the "four- modernization" (industrialization, informatization, urbanization, agricultural modernization) index system, calculates the four-modernization index, and conducts regional four-modernization evaluation. Through the OLS and GMM regression models, the influence of the development of the four modernizations on the water footprint intensity is investigated, and the interaction between the four modernizations is set to identify the interaction between the four indicators. The main conclusions of this study are as follows: Firstly, from the perspective of regional development differences at the level of four modernizations, the level of China's four modernizations generally shows that the eastern region is better than the central region, and the central region is better than the western region. The distribution of water footprint intensity is similar. There may be a correlation between the level of development and the intensity of water footprint. Secondly, the econometric model shows that the improvement of the four modernizations has a positive impact on the improvement of water footprint intensity, but the impact of each modernization is different. Thirdly, the influence of the four-modernization interaction on the water footprint intensity is positive, indicating that the improvement effect of the four-modernization development on the water footprint intensity gradually converges. Therefore, priority is given to raising the level of the four modernizations in the backward areas. The improvement of the level of the four modernizations promotes the reduction of water footprint intensity and can effectively reduce the overall water footprint intensity level in China.