New government maps show nearly the entire West is in drought and it is not even summer 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 out of doors watering to only as soon as every week.  

"We knew local weather change would stress our water provides and we've been making ready for it but we did not know it might happen this fast," stated Gloria Gray, chairwoman of the Metropolitan Water District Board of Administrators.  

The most recent authorities maps present nearly all of the West is in drought, and 95% of California is struggling severe or extreme drought.

"That is real. That is severe. That is unprecedented," mentioned Adel Hagekhalil, common supervisor for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.  

California shouldn't be alone as reservoirs throughout the West are draining.  

Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the nation shaped by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, needs a new pump to make sure water can flow to Las Vegas. 

"The issue with local weather change is that it takes all of the historical 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 just starting to see the dominoes fall. It is drier, we're beginning to see 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.