Explanation
Jim Hart made me a believer in the craft of dowsing. I have my own set of divining rods to prove it. I cannot explain how or why, but for some reason, as I walked around with him on that cold day at the county landfill, the rods he gave me moved when I walked over certain stretches of ground.

Water witch points the way

Dowser to put reputation on line to find bad water at abandoned landfill

By Arik Hesseldahl
Of The Journal

Tools in hand, Jim Hart paces slowly but purposefully, then suddenly stops.

There's water under his feet.

He turns a full 180 degrees, paces forward and again stops.

"Right there," he says. "Make a mark right there."

He holds two old radio antennas with brass handles added, like an outlaw of the Old West might hold a pair of six guns.

As he covers a small area of ground near a monitoring well at the Bannock County landfill, one antenna begins to move. The other remains still.

The water he has found is contaminated.

Hart is demonstrating his skills as a dowser, more commonly known as a water witch.

Hart, who works for the Bannock County Road and Bridge Department, is a freelance dowser.

He belongs to an international society of people who believe they can find sources of groundwater through the use of divining rods that detect energy emanating from water.

Hart has been "witching" for 11 years and has earned a reputation as one of the most accurate dowsers in eastern Idaho. Over the next few weeks, he will put his reputation on the line as he volunteers his skills to map out contaminated veins of groundwater at the landfill.

Scientists suspect that an abandoned section of the landfill may be the source of contamination of Pocatello's water supply by the chemical trichloroethylene — or TCE — a common industrial solvent and a known cancer-causing agent.

Hart is volunteering his services with the hope of tracking the contaminated groundwater to the spot where it supposedly drains into an underground aquifer of clean water.

Once his map is complete, Hart will compare his data with that collected by county engineers who want to dry up the polluted veins, cutting off the contaminant's source.

"I've already tested up there at the landfill for about two years on my own time, so I have a pretty good idea of where everything is," Hart says. "I'll just be retracing it all so the county engineers can put it on a map. I've just never tracked it out all the way. There is a lot of be learned from what I'll be doing up there."

Hart also says he can detect the directional flow of a vein of water, its depth and the number of gallons a minute a well will yield.

Bannock County Engineer Terry Bailey says officials don't have anything to lose from Hart's efforts.

"It would not surprise me, frankly, if he comes up with information that is as good or better than that of some of our high-priced consultants," Bailey says. "I'm willing to go out and compare his data with the known data."

But simply finding the source of the contaminants is just the beginning. Finding a way to cut off the contamination without making the problem worse is the challenge that lies ahead, Bailey says.

Hart's reputation is well-known among area well drillers.

Sam Frandsen, owner of Maverick Well Drilling of Lava Hot Springs, says he has drilled 20 wells with Hart's help over the last few years.

"I'd say he's pretty reliable. He's right about 90 percent of the time," Frandsen says. "He's usually within about 20 feet as far as the depth. He's the best water witch I've seen around here."

Of course, with the unscientific nature of dowsing, there are always skeptics.

Hart says that three people in 10 are sensitive to the mysterious energy fields that underground water emanates. He also says he can tell in five minutes if a person has the talent.

He's quick to put a pair of rods in the hands of anyone willing to try. If they have the ability, he can teach them advanced dowsing techniques, making believers out of skeptics. County Commissioner Tom Katsilometes numbers among Hart's students.

"I was ambivalent about the whole thing. I didn't think one way or the other about it until I tried it," Katsilometes says. "All I could tell is that the rods were moving."

Hart was himself a skeptic until he first picked up a pair of rods 11 years ago.

"I had a friend who was a well driller, and I was interested. I picked up the rods and it worked for me," he says.

Hart is waiting for the weather to clear before he begins his study, but he says he would like to begin this week.

"You need a calm day, with high pressure and not a lot of wind," he says.