New government maps show practically the entire West is in drought and it is not even summer season but: “That is unprecedented”

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

"We knew local weather change would stress our water supplies and we have been making ready for it but we didn't know it could occur this fast," said Gloria Grey, chairwoman of the Metropolitan Water District Board of Administrators.  

The newest authorities maps present practically the entire West is in drought, and 95% of California is struggling extreme or excessive drought.

"This is real. This is critical. This is unprecedented," mentioned Adel Hagekhalil, general manager for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.  

California just isn't alone as reservoirs across the West are draining.  

Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the nation fashioned by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, wants a brand new pump to ensure water can stream to Las Vegas. 

"The issue with climate 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 mentioned 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 beginning to see less water in our reservoirs, and we now have fires, and in California, there's simply this sequence of consequences that we anticipate," mentioned Reager.