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

In an unprecedented move, Southern California officers declared a water scarcity emergency and asked roughly 6 million residents to limit all out of doors watering to just once per week.  

"We knew climate 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 Grey, chairwoman of the Metropolitan Water District Board of Directors.  

The latest government maps present almost all the West is in drought, and 95% of California is struggling severe or excessive drought.

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

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

Lake Mead, the most important reservoir within the nation fashioned by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, needs a new pump to ensure water can flow to Las Vegas. 

"The problem with local weather change is that it takes all the historical 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 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 sequence of penalties that we anticipate," mentioned Reager.