New authorities maps present practically all the West is in drought and it isn’t even summer season but: “That is unprecedented”

In an unprecedented transfer, Southern California officials declared a water shortage emergency and asked roughly 6 million residents to limit all outside watering to only as soon as every week.  

"We knew local weather change would stress our water provides and we've been getting ready for it however we did not know it will happen this quick," mentioned Gloria Gray, chairwoman of the Metropolitan Water District Board of Directors.  

The most recent authorities maps show nearly all the West is in drought, and 95% of California is suffering extreme or excessive drought.

"That is actual. This is critical. This is unprecedented," stated Adel Hagekhalil, common supervisor for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.  

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

Lake Mead, the biggest reservoir within the nation fashioned by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, needs a brand new pump to ensure water can movement to Las Vegas. 

"The issue with climate change is that it takes all of the historic patterns and type of shifts them," NASA scientist Dr. JT Reager instructed CBS News' 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 starting to see much less water in our reservoirs, and we have now fires, and in California, there's simply this collection of penalties that we anticipate," mentioned Reager.