The Water-witcher of Valemount

The saying goes: Dig the well before you get thirsty.

Out here in the valley between the mountains and in the shadow of mighty Mount Robson, water from the ground is essential to life and business and getting it is the work of the town water-witcher. Riette and her husband Dan are in the process of dividing a portion of their 180-acre ranch into five smaller lots and each will require well water just like the ranch’s main house whose plumbing system is fed by two separate wells. On the ranch, they raise horses and hogs who also need a drink from time to time and none of that water comes from the city – it all comes from the ground.

“I’ve got my copper L-rod and I’ve got my peach tree wood. The copper puts me in the right general area, and then I fine-tune with the peach tree wood. They have different signals and different sensitivities, but both are essential to a good reading and hitting the right mark.”

Hazel twigs are the traditional wood in European water divining from the 16th century, but willow tree branches and peachtree wood have become effective water divining woods and thankfully peach tree wood is plentiful in the Valemount area thanks to the peach orchards of the nearby Okanagan Valley.

The water-witcher inspects the ground tapping certain patches of the earth with his foot. He takes a moment to stand perfectly still and feel the wind run through his hair tapping into the frequencies and the aura of his surroundings.

“People eager to dismiss the important work of us dowsers as the mumbo-jumbo of common hucksters will say that if you dig long enough you will eventually reach water. The truth is, I have helped countless people that have started with that strategy and reached their wits’ end eventually find the water they were looking for. It is not mumbo-jumbo, I assure you – but it isn’t science either. People have done studies attempting to reach a scientific conclusion as to why people like me can find water but all of the evidence is what they call ‘inconclusive’.”

The water-witcher, confident he has reached his ideal starting point, pulls out his L-rod and stands perfectly still with the rod loose in his hands, balanced more than it is held. He grips it suddenly with his left hand and stumbles over to his left before making a hard turn in the opposite direction to his right and advancing 10 paces.

“Dowsing is one of those rare skills you only develop after years of practice and study. Being born into a family of dowsers, as I was, helps too. I’ve been dowsing since I could walk. If a regular Joe like you was to pick up my L-rod or my peach stick, you are not going to know how to interpret the Earth’s connection to them. You wouldn’t even know how to sense what was going on between the rods and the earth beneath you that you probably wouldn’t even feel a thing and you’d just dismiss it as pure nonsense. Water-witching is one of those rare things that is part something you are born with and part something for which you have to develop the expertise.”

The rods have sensed something and the water-witcher’s stride has become quicker and more confident. He has been at it for nearly half an hour as he had been tasked with divining in a wide area and he wants to get it just right. Suddenly, he stops and begins slowly spinning in a circle. “We’re close!” he says. He draws in a deep breath again to feel the frequencies floating on the breeze and to connect his core to the ground below him. He throws down a small ball – a marker – as he heads back to where he has laid out his equipment several hundred meters away and puts down his copper L-rod and grabs his rickety old peach tree branch before heading out to the spot he has marked. As he walks back to the marker he stops a few times tapping patches of the ground as he goes. He shakes his head. He stutters for a moment and thinks about heading back toward his equipment. He stops and shakes his head again questioning his initial instincts with the copper L-rod.

“Dowsers need to be attuned to the frequencies being channelled through every part of the ground below and the air around us. Occasionally, in our haste, we mix up which signals are which because it’s like trying to find a particular needle in a stack of needles. Sorting out all of those signals and honing in on the exact one that you are looking for can be tricky business because you are constantly sifting through thousands of frequencies all at once. Try to imagine a surfer trying to ride the perfect wave when all of the waves are coming at the same time. But, somehow the rod knows. Similar to how the needle on your speedometer has been calibrated to accurately read how fast you are travelling in your car, the branch has been calibrated by nature to read where the water can be found.”

The water-witcher decides against returning to the very beginning with his copper L-rod and decides to trust his peach tree branch. He returns to the marker and stands still as a statue with the peach tree branch out in front of him. Suddenly, he runs off with a quick dash taking 4 or 5 deliberate paces before backpedalling one or two and then coming to a very hard stop.

“Yeah, no doubt about it! That’s the spot! The copper rod was actually pretty darn spot on.”

He drops his marker and returns to his equipment and grabs a can of spray paint. He returns again to his marker, takes up his peach tree branch one more time and stands perfectly still for a moment before he assuredly nods his head and marks the ground below him with the paint.

“Hard to say how far down they will need to dig, but that’s definitely the spot. They’ll find water there, mark my word!”

Over centuries divining has been used to locate not just water but precious metals, gems, oil, and all sorts of otherwise undetectable things. Water, though, is essential to life. The practice of dowsing, or water divining, has long been dismissed as nothing but pseudoscience with no scientific evidence to support its efficacy. Chance, it seems, is just as likely to divine water as an experienced witcher and his rods. That is until you become thirsty. When the chips are down and desperation hits, if the game plan is to throw a Hail Mary then it’s probably best to snap the ball to your most competent quarterback, and in the world of divining water, they are the witchers. But, as the saying goes: Dig the well before you get thirsty.