Abstract:This research paper adopts the SBM-Malmquist index and Tobit model to empirically analyze the spatiotemporal characteristics and driving factors of environmental governance efficiency in 24 counties (cities and districts) of Yueyang, Yiyang and Changde within the scope of Dongting Lake Eco-economic Zone for the time period from 2017 to 2021. The study findings indicate that (1) the comprehensive efficiency of environmental governance in the lake area represents a spatial pattern as follows: “Yueyang City>Yiyang City>Changde City”, and the difference between counties is obvious. (2) The total factor productivity of the lake area is commonly low, but the difference between different years is large. Moreover, the interweaving of changes in technical efficiency and technical progress promotes the improvement of regional total factor productivity. (3) GDP per capita and industrial assets beyond the designated size exert a positive driving effect on environmental governance efficiency, whereas the proportion of the secondary industry, per capita disposable income, agricultural planting structure, and effective irrigation area demonstrate a negative correlation with the environmental governance efficiency. Based on the research findings, policy recommendations are proposed to improve the efficiency of environmental governance in the lake area from three aspects: building a regional collaborative mechanism, increasing technological innovation efforts, and optimizing industrial structure layout.