New government maps show almost the entire West is in drought and it isn’t 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 restrict all out of doors watering to only as soon as every week.  

"We knew climate change would stress our water provides and we have been making ready for it but we didn't know it might happen this fast," said Gloria Gray, chairwoman of the Metropolitan Water District Board of Administrators.  

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

"This is real. This is severe. This is unprecedented," stated Adel Hagekhalil, general supervisor for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.  

California is not 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 ensure water can move to Las Vegas. 

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

Reager mentioned the West is in a 22-year megadrought, as local weather change makes it hotter and drier. 

"We're just starting to see the dominoes fall. It's drier, we're starting to see much less water in our reservoirs, and we have fires, and in California, there's simply this series of consequences that we anticipate," said Reager.