Southern California officials on Tuesday declared a water shortage emergency for the first time ever and imposed unprecedented outdoor water usage restrictions on the region's roughly 6 million residents due to the ongoing drought.
Driving the news: After California recorded its driest start to the year on record, residents in parts of Los Angeles, Ventura and San Bernardino counties will be required to restrict outdoor watering to one day a week, per a statement from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD), the largest supplier of treated water in the U.S.