The crater and the resulting aquifer disruption is a contributing factor to why several nearby cities import their water from far away. Another is that the citi

The crater and the resulting aquifer disruption is a contributing factor to why several nearby cities import their water from far away. Another is that the cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Newport News acquired water rights to nearby creeks long ago, back when nearby jurisdictions were rural counties, so by the time other areas experienced growth, all of their surface water rights were already owned by the oldest cities [1]. Caught in a wave of post-war growth, white flight, threatened by annexation, and discontent with having to buy local water from their neighbors, counties in this part of Virginia started becoming cities. In Virginia, cities are independent from counties -- the federal government therefore considers Virginia cities to be county-equivalent -- and cities are protected from annexation by adjacent cities. Counties turned into cities, then merged with an adjacent friendly city to avoid annexation by a rival city; Princess Anne County merged into the City of Virginia Beach; Norfolk County merged with the City of South Norfolk and renamed itself to Chesapeake; Nansemond County changed into a city, then a year and half later merged into the City of Suffolk; the county surrounding the City of Hampton merged back into it; and the City of Newport News eventually merged by mutual agreement with the City of Warwick, even though 6 years prior Warwick changed from a county to a city to avoid that exact fate. After experiencing major growth, Virginia Beach wanted to have a better negotiating position with Norfolk over water supply. It build a long interbasin transfer [1][2] to withdraw water from Lake Gaston on the Roanoke River, adjacent to the North Carolina border. Chesapeake joined as a minority partner. The resulting water is delivered into to Norfolk's system, who filters and treats it, and distributes it to Norfolk, Virginia Beach, the most urbanized areas of Chesapeake, and most military bases in the area. [1] http://www.virginiaplaces.org/watersheds/lakegaston.html http://www.virginiaplaces.org/watersheds/lakegaston.html [2] https://www.vbgov.com/government/departments/public-utilities/about-pu/lake-gaston/Pages/default.aspx https://www.vbgov.com/government/departments/public-utilitie...