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The bowl is the region of deep sinkage in the land, with Corcoran at the center — a sinkhole at a snail’s pace.

State lawmakers responded by passing a law aimed at stopping water-related land sinkage.

But how Corcoran came to dip nearly 12 feet in more than a decade is a tale not of land but of water, and the ways in which, in ag-dominated Central California, water is power — so much so that many residents and local leaders downplay the town’s sinkage or ignore it entirely.

Others in the area say it is impossible to blame any one water user for Corcoran’s complicated and long-running history of sinkage.

The lawsuit said four streets were built on top of mine waste rock, causing “extreme sinkage” to home foundations, cracked walls and clogged sewer lines due to shifting soil.