WHEN IT COMES to drought, California is getting all the attention these days. This makes sense. The Golden State is huge—in area, in population, in business, in culture, in agriculture—and it all relies on water. But the state's problems are a drop in the proverbial bucket compared to the developing world's water woes. 

Globally, drought affects more than 1.5 billion peoplein the developing world. And with some of the world's largest underground aquifers running low, many more face huge shortages. But California's drought could be a boon for dried-out developing countries.

That's because, beyond the lack of rain and decades of terrible, horrible, no good, very bad water policies, California has some of the best resources for setting things right. Resources like its $2.2 trillion GDP, its water-hawk governor, or the brains at Cal Tech's Resnick Institute in Pasadena. (The institute, it should be noted, was funded with money from megafarmer Stewart Resnick, who has been the center of other water controversies.) .