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

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

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

The latest authorities maps present almost all of the West is in drought, and 95% of California is suffering extreme or excessive drought.

"That is real. This is severe. That is unprecedented," mentioned Adel Hagekhalil, common supervisor for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.  

California will not be alone as reservoirs throughout the West are draining.  

Lake Mead, the largest reservoir within the nation fashioned 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 the historic patterns and sort of shifts them," NASA scientist Dr. JT Reager instructed 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's drier, we're beginning to see less water in our reservoirs, and we've got fires, and in California, there's just this collection of penalties that we anticipate," mentioned Reager.