A report published on May 6 about the desperate search by many municipalities for new water sources to cope with the drought, in which it was explained that in some cases they are resorting to dowsers, has surprised and upset geologists and other water professionals. Earth sciences.
The dean of the Spanish Conference of Deans of Geology (CEDG), Albert Solé, has sent the newspaper a harsh letter signed by this body and 14 other entities (among them, professional associations and university master's degrees) in which they regret that the newspaper has "Given voice to water healers (dowsers, dowsers, poceros or varilleros), when these are people who use divinatory or pseudoscientific methods", without "scientific basis" or the "minimum rigor". The letter, which is entitled Hydrogeology, the science that studies groundwater, highlights that hydrogeologists are those who, after completing university studies and even master's degrees, are trained to "apply the scientific method" to locate water sources and evaluate the more sustainable management of these water resources. Faced with this scientific approach, the letter contrasts the risk "to health and the environment" posed by "misleading pseudoscientific methods".
Esteve Giralt, author of the report, is clear that to report on water management "the fundamental thing is the scientific basis" and stresses that in his information the alert messages of these accredited specialists were collected: from the first declaration of a company of hydrogeology (which warned that the methods of dowsers "are not scientific or verifiable") to the closing paragraphs that included the point of view of the dean of the CEDG himself.
However, Giralt states that "there are municipalities that hire dowsers, this is happening and it is a reality that he did not want to stop showing." Thus, the photograph illustrating the report was that of a dowser, who in the text recounted the details of the discovery of a well, something that geologists equate in their writing to informing "on the cure of cancer" giving "a voice to healers ”.
The head of section of Vivir, Sara Sans, also defends that, in this particular report, this reality about municipalities that resort to dowsers should be reflected and stresses that it would not have been done without contextualizing it with what the newspaper is the authoritative voice : that of scientists and accredited professionals.
