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

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

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

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

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

California is not alone as reservoirs throughout the West are draining.  

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

"The issue with climate change is that it takes all of the historical patterns and sort of shifts them," NASA scientist Dr. JT Reager told 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 less water in our reservoirs, and we've fires, and in California, there's just this sequence of consequences that we anticipate," stated Reager.