TV REVIEW : ‘Dry’ Is Without Focus

The drought is not a sexy issue. Talk of aqueducts and desalination simply doesn’t make for great television, evidenced by “How Dry We Are: San Diego’s Water Crisis,” an hourlong special airing at 10 p.m. today on KFMB-TV (Channel 8).

The program is a worthy attempt to cover the nuts and bolts of the water issue. Hosted by reporter Loren Nancarrow, it is a collection of short feature reports on a variety of topics, from tracking the sources of San Diego water to the attempts of some San Diego families to save the resource.

For San Diegans unaware of the dire ramifications of the drought and the impact it will soon have on everyday life, the program will be a valuable overview of the problems.

Yet, by attempting to cover all the bases, the special doesn’t succeed on any one level.

It’s a hodgepodge of reports, with no real focus.

Some of the features have some laughably trivial lines, such as Larry Himmel’s end to a report about a Julian restaurant charging for water: “We can only wonder if there is a tree shortage, will they charge 25 cents for a toothpick?” Or this gem from Graham Ledger’s report on a farmer: “It is the fruit of their labor dying on the vine.”

There is no great exploration or analysis of the problems, nor does the program provide a detailed explanation of what people can do to save water. It never goes beyond the surface issues, providing no more depth than one of the station’s “FYI” segments.

And, despite the efforts to cover an array of bases, the program manages to gloss over or ignore some of the most compelling issues of the drought. There is no real examination of the politics of the situation, or the current debate over San Diego’s response to the crisis, which some say has been pitifully slow and inadequate. And there is little analysis of who the big water wasters are, and what they can do to cut back.

The program makes almost no mention of industrial water users, and steers far clear of other extremely relevant issues, such as the impact of the drought on the housing industry, and the very real question of whether San Diego should conserve water by curtailing growth.

“How Dry We Are” only works as a reminder to San Diegans that they need to find out more about a very real crisis.