Rob Thompson grasped the stainless steel rods loosely. Gazing intently at the ground 15 feet in
Front of him, he slowly stepped forward.
In his hands, the rods jumped to life, moving back and forth, then settling into a rhythm, crossing
over each other in the center.
“There! A vein of water – I would say it’s 3 feet wide – runs right under here, possibly 300 gallons
per minute.” Thompson exclaimed.
Thompson is a Sonoma county water witch, or dowser. With his divining rods and a few other simple tools, he says he can detect underground water – without drilling, without wells.
He returned to his truck and came back with a strand of string, a pendulum hanging from the middle. Holding the string with both arms extended, he again stepped forward cautiously. When he
Reached the same area, the pendulum began to swing rapidly, and Thompson described a small surge of energy radiating through his hands.
“I could almost do this even without the divining tools, “Thompson said. “It gets so that you can just feel where the water is going to be.”
And with that, Thompson marked the spot. Normally, he would have a drill team begin digging for water in the mountains near Sonoma; this occasion was just a dry run.
Thompson, 32, comes from a long line of Santa Rosa-areas water witches. Until recently he co-owned one of the largest drilling companies in Northern California.
“I left because it became too politicized,” said Thompson, declining to give the name of the company.
The practice of dowsing is not an exact science. It’s frowned on by most geologists, who consider the practice nothing more than mumbo jumbo or merely dumb luck when the dowsers routinely strike water. But Thompson, who is also a licensed contractor and holds a degree in engineering, said that while there is controversy over his profession, he has helped more than 1,000 individuals and companies find water on their property in his 10-year career.
There are a million theories on why dowsing works,” Thompson said. “And there is no scientific proof that it does. It’s a science that goes back thousands of years. You’ll find pictures on the walls of caves of people using sticks to find water.”
Thompson said that he has worked for wineries such as Kendall-Jackson and for other companies.
“ It all depends on what the client wants,” Thompson said. “If they want to use geological techniques, then that is what they get. But if they want the services or a dowser then we give them that.”
“I’ve relied on him for many wells in many areas on the thousands of acres we farm,” said Mark Neal, president of Jack Neal and Son, a vineyard management company based in St. Helena. “We farm about 2,000 acres in Napa and Sonoma counties, and Rob has always come through for us.”

Neal described Thompson’s techniques as eerie but effective.
“When he finally gets the strata of an underground stream crossing, that’s when he stops – and that is where the water is. If you touch his hands while he is doing it, you can feel the force coming up from the ground. I could spend thousands of dollars paying someone to poke holes in the ground with a drill. It’s a lot more cost-effective to have Rob do it.” Kendall-Jackson Wineries’ director of
Real estate, Tony Korman echoed Neal’s sentiments. “He’s been really successful for us, which is why we keep using him,” Korman said. “Rob has done many jobs for us. The two most recent are the vineyards out in Bennett Valley, and then there is Stonestreet up in Alexander Valley. That one supplies not only the fields but the winery itself, so we get double use out of it.”
Neal said he thinks of dowsing more of an art form than a science, something that can be practiced only by people who have the gift.
“I can’t do it,” Neal said. “My own brother can. I’ve actually seen willow sticks break in half as a result of finding a good underground stream.”
He said he spent three days walking 1,200 acres and found three potential water sources for a customer.
“The people I was working for chose the location I wasn’t too happy with. That well produces 50 gallons per minute. The other locations, which I like better, produce 450 and 560 gallons per minute, respectively.
The Santa Rosa native adds credibility to his profession by having the clean-cut appearance of a youthful dot-comer.
“One of the beauties of this profession is that most of the people involved with it are real character” he said with a laugh. “Those guys are inspiration to me.”
“My uncle, Wayne Thompson, was a very well-known dowser back in the ‘50s and ‘60s. He went all over the United States and even to Hawaii using a willow stick for a divining rod, finding underground streams and wells.”
He recalled being 10 years old and having his uncle show him the tricks on the trade on their ranch in east Santa Rosa.
Another role model for Thompson has been Lauren Woods, a Calistoga dowser. “Laure is absolutely great,” Thompson said. “He uses a pendulum with a tequila bottle hanging from it. And he gets great results.
“There are two major theories for why witching works. One is the European thought that ‘the mind knows all.’ The other is the idea that since the human body is made up mostly of water that there is a kind of magnetism that helps to locate underground water. Anybody can do this – I think you just have to be open to it.
“The old way of doing it is with a bow-shaped willow stick. But each dowser has their own method. Some use methods like twine with tequila bottles hanging as the pendulum.
“These are my babies,” he said, referring to the stainless steel rods. Thompson usually charges $200. per hour for his services, but also has a pay structure based on either a flat fee or a charge based on how many gallons per minute the well has produced. He said that in addition to helping farmers find wells for land, dowsers have also been in demand in times of drought.
Andrew Cunningham, a Santa Rosa Geologist who works as a geological consultant, was not surprised that Thompson gets results, given his background.
“A lot of them used fork sticks, which they made bob up and down.” Cunningham added. “Most of it’s just fake. There have been scientific studies made of their abilities, to determine if that can actually sense anything under the ground when they walk over it, as they claim they can do. There is absolutely no scientific basis for any kind of sensing going on.”
Thompson just laughs, but says he has great respect for geologists.
“They can tell a lot by finding volcanic crevices and shifts in the land,” he said.
Both are crucial parts. I think geologist can do a fabulous job at finding water.
“Dowsers just do it better.”