New authorities maps present nearly the entire West is in drought and it isn’t 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 restrict all out of doors watering to simply once a week.  

"We knew climate change would stress our water supplies and we've been getting ready for it however we didn't know it might happen this fast," stated Gloria Gray, chairwoman of the Metropolitan Water District Board of Directors.  

The most recent authorities maps present practically 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," mentioned Adel Hagekhalil, basic supervisor for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.  

California will not be 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 make sure water can circulate to Las Vegas. 

"The problem with local weather change is that it takes all of the historical 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 simply beginning to see the dominoes fall. It is drier, we're starting to see less water in our reservoirs, and we've got fires, and in California, there's just this sequence of consequences that we anticipate," said Reager.