NGWA Public Relations and Government Affairs Manager Ben Frech, pictured at right, was a part of a segment on the cable late-night program, The Daily Show, that discussed water dowsing on September 22.
The Daily Show is a news satire airing on Comedy Central that draws its comedy from recent news stories, political figures, and media organizations. It dedicated all of its episodes the third week of September to issues involving drought in the western United States.
One of the segments on September 22 discussed the increase in water dowsing/water witching taking place in California. Water dowsing is a method of using a forked stick, rod, pendulum, or similar device to locate groundwater. NGWA has long been opposed to the practice — citing the technique is totally without scientific merit.
The Daily Show segment talked to multiple dowsers who said they were successful at finding water and extremely busy. Like all segments on the long-time Emmy award-winning program, the segment was created with comedy in mind, much coming at the expense of dowsers.
Frech provided the scientific side to the story. He said dowsing is without scientific basis and pointed out the methods used by some hydrogeologists such as surface proton magnetic resonance sounding.
The segment followed two other recent national appearances for NGWA regarding water dowsing. NGWA President Merritt Partridge was featured in a news story that aired on August 19 on cable channel CNBC and Frech and NGWA Scientist and Engineer Section Director Timothy Parker, PG, CEG, CHG, were quoted in a New York Times story on July 17.
The CNBC segment aired on the primetime show, The News with Shepard Smith. In it, Partridge, the president of Partridge Well Drilling Co. Inc. in Jacksonville, Florida, said, “I can understand in desperate times (people) might look for resources that improve their chances, but the facts are that using science and data to find (water) is going to provide more accurate results.”
In the New York Times story, Parker cited that hydrogeologists and water well contractors use a combination of satellite imagery, geology, and drilling data to assess water accessibility and resources, “compared to dowsing, which is a person with a stick.”
Watch The Daily Show segment here.
View the CNBC segment here.
Click here to read the New York Times article.