New government maps show practically the entire West is in drought and it isn’t even summer time yet: “This 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 simply as soon as a week.  

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

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

"That is actual. That is serious. That is unprecedented," stated Adel Hagekhalil, general supervisor for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.  

California will not be 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 new pump to ensure water can circulate to Las Vegas. 

"The problem with climate 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 now we have fires, and in California, there's just this series of penalties that we anticipate," stated Reager.