New authorities maps show almost all the West is in drought and it is not even summer yet: “That is unprecedented”

In an unprecedented transfer, Southern California officers declared a water shortage emergency and requested roughly 6 million residents to restrict all outside watering to just once per week.  

"We knew local weather change would stress our water supplies and we have been preparing for it however we didn't know it would happen this quick," mentioned Gloria Grey, chairwoman of the Metropolitan Water District Board of Directors.  

The latest government maps show almost the entire West is in drought, and 95% of California is suffering extreme or excessive drought.

"That is real. That is severe. That is unprecedented," mentioned 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 largest reservoir in the nation shaped by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, wants a brand new pump to make sure water can circulate to Las Vegas. 

"The issue with climate change is that it takes all the historical patterns and sort of shifts them," NASA scientist Dr. JT Reager told CBS Information' 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 now have fires, and in California, there's simply this collection of penalties that we anticipate," said Reager.