New government maps present practically all the West is in drought and it isn’t even summer season but: “This is unprecedented”

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

"We knew local weather change would stress our water provides and we've been preparing for it however we did not know it might occur this quick," said Gloria Grey, chairwoman of the Metropolitan Water District Board of Administrators.  

The newest authorities maps show almost all of the West is in drought, and 95% of California is suffering extreme or excessive drought.

"That is real. That is severe. This is unprecedented," stated Adel Hagekhalil, general supervisor for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.  

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

Lake Mead, the most important reservoir within the nation fashioned by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, wants a new pump to make sure water can stream to Las Vegas. 

"The issue with climate change is that it takes all the historical patterns and type of shifts them," NASA scientist Dr. JT Reager instructed CBS News' Ben Tracy. 

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

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