Two members of a team advising City Hall on water-saving measures have traveled to Australia to examine how that dry country manages its water resources.
Connor Everts and Mark Gold, two voices on a team helping with the Water Master Plan, will study water and energy usage in the country.
Australians use between 30 and 60 gallons per capita per day, Everts said, considerably less than Santa Monicans under a projected plan that would raise the goal for daily per capita use to 141 gallons.
The trip comes at a time when City Hall is working to update a water management plan due to the state government in 2015.
City officials also hope to cut demand and increase production from local wells enough to reduce dependence on the Metropolitan Water District, a consortium of cities and water districts that imports water from Northern California and the Colorado River.
The organization raised water rates 5 percent on Jan. 1 and plans another 5 percent increase next year, said Bob Muir, a spokesperson with the Metropolitan Water District.