How Israel's agricultural mindset has inspired Florida's watery future

When most people think of Israel, agriculture is not the first thing that comes to mind. Israel is small, much of it is arid, and water has always been scarce. The land in Israel has been farmed for thousands of years. What statehood changed was the scale, the conditions including rapid population growth and limited water, and the methods required to make agriculture work.

That meant finding alternatives, moving water across the country, using it more efficiently, and eventually creating new sources through desalination. Out of those limitations, Israel didn’t just learn how to farm. Rather th...