New government maps show almost all the West is in drought and it is not even summer yet: “That is unprecedented”

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

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

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

"This is actual. This is severe. That is unprecedented," stated Adel Hagekhalil, basic manager for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.  

California is just not alone as reservoirs across the West are draining.  

Lake Mead, the most important reservoir within the nation fashioned by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, wants a new pump to make sure water can stream to Las Vegas. 

"The problem with local weather change is that it takes all the historical patterns and type of shifts them," NASA scientist Dr. JT Reager advised 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 is drier, we're starting to see less water in our reservoirs, and we have fires, and in California, there's simply this collection of consequences that we anticipate," stated Reager.