A new study of tree rings adds to evidence that Texas has experienced at least one 10-year drought every 100 years, as well as several "mega-droughts" lasting 15 to 30 years over the centuries.

The peer-reviewed study, published Wednesday in the Texas Water Journal, argues that Texas' reliance on a 1950s drought as the "drought of record" — the worst-case standard for water planners today — is off-base.

"This and previous studies indicate that severe decadal-scale droughts have occurred in Texas at least once a century since the 1500s," wrote the study's authors, who are based at the University of Arkansas ...

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