New authorities maps show almost the entire West is in drought and it isn’t even summer time yet: “This is unprecedented”

In an unprecedented transfer, Southern California officials declared a water shortage emergency and asked roughly 6 million residents to limit all outside watering to only as soon as every week.  

"We knew local weather change would stress our water provides and we have been making ready for it but we didn't know it would occur this quick," said Gloria Grey, chairwoman of the Metropolitan Water District Board of Directors.  

The newest authorities maps present practically the entire West is in drought, and 95% of California is suffering severe or extreme drought.

"That is actual. That is serious. This is unprecedented," stated Adel Hagekhalil, common supervisor for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.  

California just isn't alone as reservoirs throughout the West are draining.  

Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the nation formed by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, wants a new pump to ensure water can movement to Las Vegas. 

"The issue with local weather change is that it takes all the historic patterns and form of shifts them," NASA scientist Dr. JT Reager informed CBS Information' Ben Tracy. 

Reager mentioned the West is in a 22-year megadrought, as climate change makes it hotter and drier. 

"We're just beginning to see the dominoes fall. It's drier, we're starting to see much less water in our reservoirs, and we've fires, and in California, there's simply this sequence of consequences that we anticipate," stated Reager.