Across the West, state leaders are bracing against the long-term impacts of aridification. In late April, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown added four additional counties to the 'drought emergency' tally — now, half the state (including Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson Counties) is in a state of emergency.

Further south, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which gets water to millions of city dwellers, restricted outdoor water use for the first time ever. In Colorado, the U.S. Department of Agriculture designated the entire state a "primary natural disaster area" due to the threat of drought — also considered an "unprecedented" move.

The Southwest, as a whole, has been hit hard with dry conditions: Utah and New Mexico both issued separate emergency declarations, one for water scarcity and the other for wildfire.