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

In an unprecedented move, Southern California officers declared a water scarcity emergency and asked roughly 6 million residents to limit all outside watering to only once a week.  

"We knew local weather change would stress our water provides and we've been preparing for it however we didn't know it would happen this fast," said Gloria Gray, chairwoman of the Metropolitan Water District Board of Directors.  

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

"That is real. This is critical. That is unprecedented," said Adel Hagekhalil, normal supervisor for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.  

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

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

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

Reager said 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 much less water in our reservoirs, and we have fires, and in California, there's just this collection of consequences that we anticipate," said Reager.