US: Drought-hit Corcoran town is sinking into the ground; residents begin evacuation

Corcoran is the self-proclaimed farming capital of California. But over a few years, the town is slowly sinking into the ground. A steady stream of trucks transporting tomatoes, alfalfa, or cotton demonstrates how intricately Corcoran's fate is linked to the intense farming done here. Farm operators began pumping water from underground sources to irrigate their vast fields and help feed America in the last century, to the point where the ground has begun to sink. 

NASA used satellites to analyse the geological change of the city

Surprisingly, indicators of subsidence are practically imperceptible to the naked eye. There are no cracks in the walls of the town's traditional American stores, nor crevices appearing in the streets or fields to quantify subsidence, Californian officials had to turn to NASA, which utilised satellites to analyse the geological change. Despite this, Corcoran has fallen the equivalent of a two-story house in the last 100 years, according to Jeanine Jones, a manager with the California Department of Water Resources. She warned that the phenomena might endanger infrastructures such as groundwater wells, levees, and aqueducts.

A levee on the outskirts of town, where wisps of cotton blowing in the breeze, is the only visible indicator of this dangerous development. The government began a big effort to build the levee in 2017 out of concern that the city, which is located in a basin, would be swamped when the rains finally returned. As a result, Corcoran has found itself in a vicious circle with restricted water supplies, farm proprietors are driven to pump more subsurface water, hastening the town's sinking. Few residents have spoken out against the problem as the majority of them work for the same large agribusinesses that are pumping up groundwater.

People are leaving the city

The town's residents have been plunging into a terrible economic and psychological slump, as large farm enterprises have grown increasingly mechanised and industrialised, needing less and less local work. One-third of the city's predominantly Hispanic population is now poor. The town's three movie theatres, which formerly provided a source of entertainment, have all closed their doors. A 77-year-old local resident Raul Gomez told a news agency that a lot of people are leaving the city.