China is facing a serious situation with regard to water resources, which have become a major bottleneck restricting the sustainable development of the economy and society. Based on the categorical data envelopment analysis, we calculated the urban water resource utilization efficiency of eco-geographic regions in China and analyzed the changes in efficiency, spatial distribution, and spatial convergence. The results revealed the following: 1) The utilization efficiency of water resources in China was low, first falling and then rising in a staggered and fluctuating manner from 2007 to 2016. 2) The water use comprehensive efficiency of eco-geographic regions decreased in the following order: temperate arid region > temperate semi-arid region > temperate sub-humid region > temperate humid region > pattern of subtropical humid region. The technical efficiency decreased in the following order: temperate arid region > temperate semi-arid region > temperate humid region > temperate sub-humid region > pattern of subtropical humid region. The scale efficiency decreased as follows: temperate sub-humid region > temperate humid region > temperate arid region > pattern of subtropical humid region > temperate semi-arid region. 3) The considerable gap in technical efficiency among eco-geographic regions led to the low technical efficiency at the aggregate (national) level, which was the main factor restricting the improvement of comprehensive efficiency in China. 4) Although the regional gap in water resource utilization comprehensive efficiency was narrowing in this time period, there was no clearly evident "catch-up effect" in the low-efficiency regions.