New government maps show practically all the West is in drought and it is not even summer time but: “This is unprecedented”

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

"We knew climate change would stress our water supplies 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 latest authorities maps show nearly the entire West is in drought, and 95% of California is struggling extreme or excessive drought.

"That is real. This is severe. That is unprecedented," mentioned Adel Hagekhalil, normal manager for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.  

California will not be alone as reservoirs across the West are draining.  

Lake Mead, the most important reservoir in the nation shaped by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, wants a new pump to ensure water can stream to Las Vegas. 

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

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

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