New authorities maps present nearly all the West is in drought and it’s not even summer season but: “This is unprecedented”

In an unprecedented move, Southern California officers declared a water shortage emergency and requested roughly 6 million residents to limit all outdoor watering to only once every week.  

"We knew climate change would stress our water provides and we've been getting ready for it however we did not know it could happen this fast," mentioned Gloria Gray, chairwoman of the Metropolitan Water District Board of Directors.  

The newest authorities maps present almost all the West is in drought, and 95% of California is suffering extreme or excessive drought.

"This is real. This is serious. This is unprecedented," mentioned Adel Hagekhalil, common manager for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.  

California will not be alone as reservoirs across the West are draining.  

Lake Mead, the largest reservoir within the nation shaped by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, wants a new pump to make sure water can move to Las Vegas. 

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

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

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