Environment: A Tiny Town Near Collapse

To see the California drought at its worst, TIME Correspondent James Wilde visited Orland (pop. 3,241), a farming community in the Sacramento Valley. His report:

Until now, Orland has been famed chiefly for its appearance in Ripley's Believe It or Not as a tiny town with no fewer than 13 bars and 21 churches—all active. Today, Orland is better known as a victim of a savage drought that is entering its second year. Its orchards, dairies, small farms and citizens are all in trouble, and the bars and churches are better patronized than ever...