New authorities maps present almost all the West is in drought and it isn’t even summer but: “That is unprecedented”

In an unprecedented transfer, Southern California officials declared a water shortage emergency and requested roughly 6 million residents to limit all outside watering to simply as soon as a week.  

"We knew climate change would stress our water supplies and we've been preparing for it however we did not know it would occur this fast," stated Gloria Gray, chairwoman of the Metropolitan Water District Board of Administrators.  

The latest authorities maps show practically all of the West is in drought, and 95% of California is struggling extreme or excessive drought.

"This is actual. That is critical. This is unprecedented," mentioned Adel Hagekhalil, normal supervisor 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, needs a brand new pump to ensure water can move to Las Vegas. 

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

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

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