New government maps present nearly the entire West is in drought and it’s not even summer time yet: “This is unprecedented”

In an unprecedented move, Southern California officials declared a water shortage emergency and requested roughly 6 million residents to limit all out of doors watering to simply once per week.  

"We knew climate change would stress our water provides and we've been preparing for it however we didn't know it might occur this fast," mentioned Gloria Grey, chairwoman of the Metropolitan Water District Board of Directors.  

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

"That is real. This is critical. That is unprecedented," stated Adel Hagekhalil, basic manager for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.  

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

Lake Mead, the biggest reservoir in the nation fashioned by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, needs a new pump to make sure water can stream to Las Vegas. 

"The issue with climate change is that it takes all the historic patterns and type 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 beginning to see the dominoes fall. It's drier, we're beginning to see less water in our reservoirs, and we have now fires, and in California, there's just this collection of consequences that we anticipate," said Reager.