The first stretch of the legislative year is over, and lawmakers are going down under. Seeking to impart lessons from Australia’s 15-year “millennium drought,” the nonprofit California Foundation on the Environment and the Economy is paying for a handful of lawmakers to fly across the world during the Legislature’s spring recess next week. They’ll be joined by various interest group representatives.

The organization sponsored a drought-focused Australia trip last year as well. This year’s participants are Sen. Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont, and Assemblymen Rob Bonta, Jim Cooper, Jimmy Gomez, Christopher Holden, Evan Low and Rudy Salas.