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

In an unprecedented transfer, Southern California officials declared a water scarcity emergency and asked roughly 6 million residents to limit all outdoor watering to just once a week.  

"We knew climate change would stress our water supplies and we've been making ready for it but we did not know it might occur this fast," mentioned Gloria Grey, chairwoman of the Metropolitan Water District Board of Administrators.  

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

"That is actual. That is severe. That is unprecedented," mentioned Adel Hagekhalil, common manager for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.  

California just isn't alone as reservoirs across the West are draining.  

Lake Mead, the biggest reservoir in the nation shaped by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, wants a brand new pump to ensure water can flow to Las Vegas. 

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

Reager said 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've got fires, and in California, there's simply this collection of consequences that we anticipate," mentioned Reager.