California: A State Of Survival Part 2 - People Without Water In Tulare County

TULARE COUNTY (CBS13) — While many Californians are looking for ways to save their lawns during the drought, there are hundreds who are facing live with no water at all.

It's in Tulare County, south of Fresno where we find the hardest hit area in the entire state.

"The situation really is comparable to Third World conditions in some of these communities," said Ryan Jensen with the Community Water Center.

Pastor Ramon Hernandez will tell you it's already far worse than he ever imagined it could be. In the Iglesia Emmanuel Church parking lot, people with no water use community sinks and showers. The individual shower stalls are reserved for women and children.

"There's not a whole lot of privacy there for the men," he said.

Families pick up rare and precious donated drinking water from a trailer that's half empty after a day. Hernandez doesn't know where the next shipment is coming from.

Welcome to bone-dry Tulare County, where two or three wells run out every day. Across the country, there are few places like it.

Click here to see the other reports in this five-part series.