To address the challenge of massive water resource consumption in China’s shale gas development, this study focuses on three high-water-consumption links (drilling, well cementing, and fracturing) during the shale gas development process. It decomposes the water consumption behavior of each link and establishes water consumption measurement formulas for each link. Taking a production well in the Fuling Shale Gas Field as a case study, actual parameters are substituted into the formulas for measurement, and the results show that the total water consumption of a single well ranges from 20,070.11 to 22,904.29 m3. Furthermore, this study analyzes the multifaceted impacts of high water consumption from shale gas development on the operation area, and proposes sustainable countermeasures for water conservation and efficiency improvement from the dimensions of technology and process, management, and policy, providing support for the green development of the shale gas industry.