Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 16, 1981)
I1 '91 U-‘Y 'fil Skeptic tries water witciting By Pat Davidson Battalion Reporter Dr. Ivan W. Schmedemann walked slowly through the moist green grass of the tree- edged pasture, each down- turned fist tightly clenching one fork of a peach branch like the inverted handlebars of a bicycle. As the uplifted common por tion of the Y-shaped rod began to move, I fixed my gaze on the professor's hands: if he was manipulating the rod, it must have been by muscular ventrilo quism, for his grip was steady and his hands unmoving, even as the branch turned a half-circle before coming to a halt pointing to the ground. I had just observed a water witch in action. Now it was my turn to try. Under Schmedemann's gui dance, I tried to imitate his grasp of the tender green branch. I gripped the forks with my palms down, lifting the combined por tion of the rod toward the blue sky, washed fresh and clean by rain earlier in the day. Anticipation swelled within me as I began walking slowly across the field. I had seen it work for Schmedemann. Would it work for me? "It's not going to work; I just know it is not going to work for me," I thought as I neared the spot where Schmedemann's effort had indicated water would be found. So I wonder why I was dis appointed when it didn't. **** Water witching, the myste rious and controversial practice of locating underground water by using a forked twig or similar device, is a colorful part of Bra zos County's rural water pic ture, although relatively unim portant here because of abun dant groundwater. Ray Robertson, a self- employed civil engineer who be gan water witching as a youth in West Texas, said the practice, also known as dowsing and di vining, is most prevalent in areas where the chances of drill ing a dry hole are greatest. Water is often found in bands or veins 30 to 60 feet wide, Robertson said. So drillers who use maps of aquifers (under ground water reservoirs) to de termine where to drill may miss some sources of water that can be located by a water witch, he said. Robertson says he has a "100 percent success rate," hav ing found water every time he tried. Robertson, who holds bache lor's and master's degrees in civil engineering from Texas A&M University, said when he witches a location for a well, he is confident he will find water even if he has no prior know ledge of the drilling history of the land. Carl Ryan, a water well driller for more than 40 years, said he didn't believe in water witching until he saw Robertson locate water in an unlikely spot. Ryan tried it for himself and was suc cessful; now both men turn to the Y-shaped branch whenever they have trouble locating water. Texas A&M land economics professor Schmedemann, on the other hand, isn't as com pletely sold on his own ability to locate water using the forked peach branch. "If you are rational, you are going to use all of the informa tion you can" in determining where to drill a water well, the Texas Real Estate Research Insti tute researcher and professor said. Pertinent information in cludes personal knowledge of the area, data recorded by pre vious drillers, groundwater re sources maps and physical char acteristics of the land such as rock formations and drainage patterns. The indication of a di vining rod can be included in this list. Dr. Ivan W. Schmedemann uses a forked peach branch to locate underground water. His interest in water witching is just a hobby, he said. Photo by Nancy Andersen 50C DRAFT BEER Sunday Nights 5 p.m.-Midnight woodstone commerce center = on hwy. 30 Schmedemann said he often witches for fun rather than to locate a well site; thus he de clined to say he always finds water. The controversy surrounding water witching is recorded in numerous publications, dating from as early as the 16th cen tury. Social scientists, physicists and geologists are among other researchers who have published attempts to discredit, explain or simply document water witching. **** None of my research con vinced me why Robertson, Schmedemann and Ryan can use the forked rod to find water, while other people, like myself, fail. I saw the forked rod turned in Schmedemann's unmoving hands. And I felt it for myself as I held one fork while he held the other, and the branch turned de spite my resistance. So I believe there is some validity to water witching. But if I ever drill a water well, I think I'll heed Schmedemann's advice to obtain as much additional in formation as I can, instead of de pending on a quivering stick. YOU INTO SO ARE WE! TRY OUR 35 mm PROCESSING TODAY! We treat your 35 mm pictures with special care because we know how special they are... Bring your 35 mm film to us for the kind of finishing you want for your 35 mm photography. YOU HAVE A CHOICE! 3V2X5 MATTE FINISH or “THE BIG SHOT” 4X6 GLOSSY PRINTS Try Both Today! -““-COUPON—“——i Cl 35-12 3V 2 X5 249 4X6 299 oenco photo ano camera S jS C135-24 499 5" 1 Lr Kodak paper... | Cl 35-36 6" 799 fora good look. || “IN BY 9 - OUT BY 5!” oencn PHOTOFINISHING LABORATORY 119 Walton • 696-0371 • College Station