In the recent years, the environment has deteriorated in the plateau in northwest Hebei Province. Farmland has been converted to forestland and grassland following national policy. As the area of cultivated land has decreased, the income of the rural population has reduced. In the past decade, out-of-season vegetables have been cultivated in meadow chestnut soil, which accounts for 10%-15% of the total cultivated area. This has led to an increase in income of the rural population. The area of sand chestnut soil, which accounts for 60%-70% of the total cultivated area, is not effectively used. Improving the use of local resources, particularly sand chestnut soil, has become an important challenge. Pumpkin can be used as both a vegetable and food crop and its economic value is 7-8 times more than that of naked oats. Because it is drought tolerant and suitable for larger spaced planting, it is usually the first candidate crop used to improve the local economy of arid areas. Experiments were conducted during 2009-2010 at the Zhangbei Agricultural Resource and Ecological Environment Key Field Research Station, Hebei Province, China to study the water efficiency of the pumpkin-planting patterns used in this area. Four patterns of pumpkin and oil sunflower intercropping were compared to determine whether a stereo-planting pattern of pumpkin and oil sunflower can increase the efficiency of use of water and soil resources and increase the economic value of crops in the plateau of northwest Hebei Province. The four planting patterns included sole cropping of pumpkin (Sp) and oil-sunflower (So), as well as intercropping with one row of oil sunflower (IC₁), and intercropping with two rows of oil sunflower (IC₂) between pumpkin rows. Water balance, water use efficiency, variation of water use among different stages and sites and yield were studied by monitoring soil water in each planting pattern. The results showed that oil sunflower competed with pumpkin for soil water during the late growth stage of pumpkin in IC₂ but there was no water competition in IC₁. Total rainfall during the growing season was 201.6 mm, and soil water balance differed among treatments. In all cases, water percolation was low, and soil moisture storage was always negative. Nearly all water loss occurred through evapotranspiration, which varied according to the soil treatment. The seasonal evapotranspiration of plants in IC₁ was less than those of plants in So, Sp, and IC₂, which measured 46.57%, 41.22%, and 46.73%, respectively. The economic yield of pumpkin decreased from 30.00% with IC₁ to 71.42% with IC₂. Compared with So, oil sunflower intercropping increased the yield per plant from 190.71% to 241.26%, showing that oil sunflower has some advantages over pumpkin. The land equivalent ratio of pumpkin to oil sunflower had a range of 1.08-1.22, while the water equivalent ratio had a range of 1.07-1.26. The economic value of Sp was the greatest of the four planting patterns; although it did not differ significantly from IC₁, it was significantly lower than the other planting patterns. In this region of rain-fed dry land farming, sparse planting of pumpkin, without oil sunflower intercropping, could allow effective use of the water resources in the plateau of northern Hebei Province.