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

In an unprecedented move, Southern California officials declared a water shortage emergency and asked roughly 6 million residents to restrict all outdoor watering to just as soon as a week.  

"We knew local weather change would stress our water provides and we've been preparing for it but we didn't know it might happen this fast," mentioned Gloria Gray, chairwoman of the Metropolitan Water District Board of Administrators.  

The most recent authorities maps present practically all of the West is in drought, and 95% of California is suffering severe or extreme drought.

"That is real. This is severe. That is unprecedented," mentioned Adel Hagekhalil, general 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 new pump to make sure water can circulate to Las Vegas. 

"The problem with local weather 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 stated 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 is drier, we're starting to see much less water in our reservoirs, and now we have fires, and in California, there's simply this sequence of penalties that we anticipate," stated Reager.