Outdated-Long-established Dowser Makes use of Sixth Sense To Assist Napa Farmer Discover Water – CBS San Francisco

NAPA (KPIX) – With drought rapidly drying up reservoirs, farmers are desperate for new sources of water and some of them are turning to a mysterious method that is thousands of years old.

Just before the harvest, the Napa Valley grapes shine like jewels on the vine. But that day we’re looking for another treasure in a vineyard outside St. Helena … we’re looking for water. But Mark Neal, the land manager of Lawrence Family Vineyards, has brought his secret weapon: Rob Thompson, who ironically describes his business during a drought.

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“Flooded. I book 3 to 4 weeks in advance and also work on Saturdays, ”Thompson said. “I’ve never seen it like that before.”

Thompson, who owns the Thompson Well Location in Sonoma County, practices the mysterious art of commuting and locates underground water with nothing more than a pair of curved steel rods. He touches the ground with his sticks to reset them and then begins to move them. When they point towards the water, the bars magically cross each other, almost as if they were being magnetized.

Thompson believes that underground objects like water create changes in a weak electromagnetic field.

“Think of us as a big radio,” he said, “and we’ll adjust to this change in the magnetic field and pick it up.”

Well drilling costs thousands of dollars. When Neal hires a dowser, he backs him with a sizeable investment and his faith has been well rewarded. In the 25 years of their collaboration, Thompson has had a 100 percent success rate.

“I’ve never met a dry well,” said Neal. “Now don’t bewitch this today!” he said with a laugh.

The well on a 50 acre vineyard along the Silverado Trail is starting to fail, so Thompson started looking for a new location, eventually found 3 spots and identified the exact location to be drilled. As he focuses, the rods even tell him how deep to drill and how much water is likely to be produced. It all feels a bit mystical, and despite Thompson’s 40-year success, the scientific community says commuting is a lot of nonsense.

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What is his reaction when people say there is nothing wrong?

“I’ll just give them a set of dowsing rods,” he said. “And some of them can and they wonder what’s going on?”

So I decided to give it a try myself. I held the bars as gently as possible and began to walk forward. Suddenly the bars began to cross and since they were pointing slightly downwards, they had to defy gravity.

“Okay, I don’t move this, it moves by itself,” I said to Thompson. “That is amazing.”

But Thompson believes we move the rods, subconsciously tapping into a sixth sense. And while he can’t fully explain it, after 40 years he doesn’t doubt it’s real, and neither does Neal.

“I won’t take on a project unless I can use Rob as a dowser,” he said, “on every project.”

Thompson says his “sixth sense” extends to other things as well, and has been hired to find oil, gas, and mineral deposits and even the occasional shipwreck.

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Agriculture is a practical occupation, but it depends on the weather, which no one can really predict. Commuting may be a mystery, but if growers can trust something as mysterious and complex as the weather, why not something as simple as two steel bars?