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

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

"We knew local weather change would stress our water provides and we've been making ready for it but we did not know it would happen this quick," stated Gloria Gray, chairwoman of the Metropolitan Water District Board of Administrators.  

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

"This is real. That is severe. That is unprecedented," stated Adel Hagekhalil, normal supervisor for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.  

California shouldn't be alone as reservoirs throughout the West are draining.  

Lake Mead, the most important reservoir in the nation formed by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, wants a brand new pump to ensure water can flow to Las Vegas. 

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

Reager mentioned 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 is drier, we're starting to see much less water in our reservoirs, and we've fires, and in California, there's simply this sequence of consequences that we anticipate," said Reager.