New government maps show nearly all the West is in drought and it isn’t even summer season yet: “That is unprecedented”

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

"We knew climate change would stress our water supplies and we've been making ready for it however we didn't know it could occur this fast," mentioned Gloria Gray, chairwoman of the Metropolitan Water District Board of Administrators.  

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

"That is actual. This is serious. This is unprecedented," stated Adel Hagekhalil, general manager for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.  

California is not 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 brand new pump to ensure water can move to Las Vegas. 

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

Reager stated 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's drier, we're starting to see less water in our reservoirs, and we have fires, and in California, there's just this sequence of penalties that we anticipate," mentioned Reager.