New authorities maps show practically all of the West is in drought and it isn’t even summer time yet: “That is unprecedented”

In an unprecedented transfer, Southern California officials declared a water scarcity emergency and asked roughly 6 million residents to restrict all out of doors watering to simply once every week.  

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

The newest government maps show nearly all the West is in drought, and 95% of California is struggling extreme or excessive drought.

"This is actual. That is severe. This is unprecedented," mentioned Adel Hagekhalil, normal supervisor for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.  

California is just not alone as reservoirs across the West are draining.  

Lake Mead, the most important reservoir in the nation fashioned by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, needs a brand new pump to ensure water can movement to Las Vegas. 

"The problem with climate change is that it takes all the historic patterns and type 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 simply 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 sequence of consequences that we anticipate," mentioned Reager.