New government maps show nearly all the West is in drought and it isn’t even summer season but: “This is unprecedented”

In an unprecedented transfer, Southern California officers declared a water scarcity emergency and requested roughly 6 million residents to limit all out of doors watering to only as soon as every week.  

"We knew local weather change would stress our water supplies and we have been making ready for it however we didn't know it could happen this fast," mentioned Gloria Grey, chairwoman of the Metropolitan Water District Board of Administrators.  

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

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

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

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

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

Reager stated 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's drier, we're starting to see less water in our reservoirs, and we've got fires, and in California, there's just this sequence of penalties that we anticipate," mentioned Reager.