Fields And Farm Jobs Dry Up With California's Worsening Drought
On a recent afternoon on the main drag of Orange Grove, Calif., about a dozen farm workers gathered on the sidewalk in front of a mini-mart.
One man sits on a milk crate sipping a beer. A few others scratch some lotto tickets. Salvador Perez paces back and forth with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans.
If there is no water, there's no work, he says in Spanish.
Perez was laid off when the citrus farmer he worked for ran out of water. He has five kids to support, and though the family is getting unemployment, it's about to run out. So he's been hanging out there hoping to hear of some work.
Perez says he and his family have been living here since 1983 and have never seen a drought this bad. A man next to him says he may head back to Mexico soon. He's heard the farms there have more water right now.
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