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

In an unprecedented move, Southern California officials declared a water shortage emergency and requested roughly 6 million residents to limit all out of doors watering to simply as soon as every week.  

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

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

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

California shouldn't be 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, needs a new pump to ensure water can circulate to Las Vegas. 

"The problem with local weather change is that it takes all of the historical patterns and form of shifts them," NASA scientist Dr. JT Reager advised CBS News' 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 have now fires, and in California, there's just this collection of consequences that we anticipate," mentioned Reager.