New authorities maps present almost all the West is in drought and it’s not even summer season but: “This is unprecedented”

In an unprecedented move, Southern California officials declared a water scarcity emergency and asked roughly 6 million residents to restrict all outside watering to just as soon as a week.  

"We knew climate change would stress our water supplies and we have been getting ready for it but we didn't know it might occur this quick," stated Gloria Gray, chairwoman of the Metropolitan Water District Board of Administrators.  

The latest government maps show practically all the West is in drought, and 95% of California is suffering extreme or excessive drought.

"That is real. That is serious. That is unprecedented," mentioned Adel Hagekhalil, basic manager for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.  

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

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

"The issue with climate change is that it takes all of the historical patterns and type of shifts them," NASA scientist Dr. JT Reager advised 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's drier, we're starting to see much less water in our reservoirs, and we've fires, and in California, there's just this series of consequences that we anticipate," mentioned Reager.