Bone-dry fields outside Benambra, Victoria, Australia. (Photo by Fir0002/Flagstaffotos via Wikipedia) (CN) — Rain has long signaled the end of a drought, but a new analysis of Australia’s worst dry spell in a century reveals many water reservoirs remained low nearly a decade after the rain returned. Research published in the journal Science on Thursday studies 15 years of data collected before, during and after the Millennium Drought dried out Victoria, Australia, from 2001 to 2009 and reveals flaws in the long-held belief that reservoirs naturally replenish after drought ends. “Whether or not watersheds always recover from prolonged droughts has major implications for global long-term water resource planning and aquatic environments, especially under climate change,” study authors wrote.