California farmers hire dowsers to find water

MyFoxNY ^ | 3 Mar 2014 | JASON DEAREN

[shove_it]

ST. HELENA, Calif. (AP) — With California in the grips of drought, farmers throughout the state are using a mysterious and some say foolhardy tool for locating underground water: dowsers, or water witches.

Practitioners of dowsing use rudimentary tools — usually copper sticks or wooden "divining rods" that resemble large wishbones — and what they describe as a natural energy to find water or minerals hidden deep underground.

While both state and federal water scientists disapprove of dowsing, California "witchers" are busy as farmers seek to drill more groundwater wells due to the state's record drought that persists despite recent rain...

[camle]

my grandfather was a dowser. for some reason when they built their retirement home, they relied upon ‘experts’ to locate the water supply. the process took two years, and included spectacular blasting, etc.. finally grandpa got frustrated and took out his divining rod. he told the experts where to dig. the scoffed and he insisted. they’re still getting water from that spot, and the three failed holes were filled up.

when we drilled for my well in Maine, i had it dowsed. they hit it the first time.

[knarf]

Do I have this correctly ?

California can and could have the water it needs by using the natural resources and conserving wisely, i.e., dams and reservoirs ... but it decided against that, destroyed, shut down or never built the infrastructure needed to provide water ...

so it can call in the magicians

Did I get that right?

[shove_it]

That’s how it was done in Connecticut when I lived there many moons ago.

[camle]

that was my grandpa ;-). for reason my dad never got the hang of it, and they never taught us young’uns. his divining rod remains in the old homestead (the one he built)...

[Wordkraft]

I knew a kid who helped put himself through college being a dowser.

[camle]

well i can’t explain it, but i’ve seen it work enough times. you can call it mumbo jumbo, or whatever, but i’ve seen dowsers succeed where experts failed.

[43north]

I once thought dowsing was fake. Then I tried it. Now I believe the practice has significant merit. I don’t know how it works but in the right circumstances it is effective and can save significant time and money.

[ecomcon]

Well, close. The farmers are up against it because Ca. is owned by Democrats, and as we all know, Democrats are utterly incapable of actually solving any problem, because they live in a politically correct fog, devoid of truth.

Sacramento couldn’t care less about the farmers of the central valley. Farmers tend to vote republican.

[GeronL]

If they actually find water, the state will probably come and take it away from them

[Sacajaweau]

We’ve been using this in old cemeteries as a check to GPR.

[4yearlurker]

There was a man named Frank Peck who made a living as a Water Witch in South Jersey in the 1930's. He charged five dollars a shot for finding a well. Historian Henry Charlton Beck wrote about him in the 1930's.

[DJ MacWoW]

Less Than 2.1K To Go And The Freepathon Is Over!

Click The Pic To Donate

Donate

[P-Marlowe]

If they actually find water, the state will probably come and take it away from them

They might not take it away, but they will charge them for the water they pull out.

[momtothree]

“I once thought dowsing was fake...”

So did I. However, my husband’s grandfather could do it. From my understanding, not everyone can. He would find water with dowsing and many, many farmers requested his services. He didn’t do it as a job but as a farmer. Word got out and his services were needed. And yes... he found water!

[madison10]

I can do this. Bent wire hangers work well, too.

[12th_Monkey]

I met a dowser once, he used copper rods. He asked me if I wanted to try it. I said sure, but it’s all BS. He pointed to where a water line was and told me to walk over it. The damned things crossed one another. Freaked me out because I was making damned sure my fingers were still so not to impart any motion into the rods. Weird feeling to see them move on their own with no assistance from me.

Not sure if it’s all BS after that happened.

[goat granny]

When my well went dry on the farm, my old neighbor showed me how to dowse for a new well. I found the best area and put a rock there. I had already called a dowser to find the best place, he was probably in his 80's with a trunk full of different tree branches in his trunk....he walked the area then ask me if I had another dowser out and I told him no....he asked who put a rock on a certain area of the grass. I told me I did and he said about 4 feet from there is the best place. Thats where we put the well......I asked the well digger when he came out, how he decided where to put a well, he laughed and said *I throw my hat in the air and dig there.

If he digs a well where you tell him and its a dry hole, you pay full price for no well, if he picks the site, and its a dry hole you pay 1/2 the price for that dry hole...

The dowser told me after he left me he was going to a farm that had 7 dry holes dug and decided to call him cause he was tired of paying for dry holes....

I was shown to use 2 wire hangers, by golly, it works and I don't think it takes special people, just special attitude to what you are doing and seeing with your instrument. It takes a very light touch in holding whatever you are using.