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

In an unprecedented transfer, Southern California officers declared a water shortage emergency and asked roughly 6 million residents to restrict all outside watering to only once a week.  

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

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

"This is real. That is critical. This is unprecedented," said 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 largest reservoir within the nation shaped by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, wants a brand new pump to ensure water can move to Las Vegas. 

"The issue with local weather change is that it takes all of the historic patterns and kind of shifts them," NASA scientist Dr. JT Reager advised CBS Information' Ben Tracy. 

Reager said the West is in a 22-year megadrought, as climate change makes it hotter and drier. 

"We're just starting to see the dominoes fall. It's drier, we're beginning to see much less water in our reservoirs, and we've got fires, and in California, there's simply this sequence of penalties that we anticipate," mentioned Reager.