In The Traveller's Tree by Patrick Leigh Fermor, a travelogue from the Caribbean, he gives an account of water divination. He initially sees it as some voodoo myth, and is taken aback when they repeatedly find water.
Kinda like acupuncture - does my pulse really have seven levels that mean different things? I doubt it.. but a successful acupuncturist might still be able to diagnose "what hurts" using said technique, when really they've already picked up on other clues from your gait, posture, etc.
"subliminal" and "subconscious" are over-used and vague words, but we've all had the experience of wearing a new clothing item and receiving an uncommon number of compliments, including from strangers who wouldn't know it's new. I've always assumed we are unconsciously presenting the new thing with a bit of flair, and that equally-unconsciously draws the eye.
Also, you bought it because it looked good, didn't you?
To your second point: yes, of course. But three weeks later it looks (mostly) the same but stops drawing compliments.
The wikipedia page lists quite a few scientific studies that establish this. The net summary is:
The scientific evidence shows that dowsing is no more effective than random chance. It is therefore regarded as a pseudoscience.
Does the dowsing find water hidden in a random spot or is the dowser tapping into subconscious knowledge about the land to find it. The parent is talking about the latter.
Look up "Ideomotor phenomenon" in your source. It's right above the pseudoscience bit.
There's no evidence that the dowser is tapping into subconscious knowledge in a way that gives results any better than - or different from - chance.
There's water almost everywhere in the ground -- the questions are is there enough of it to meet the need? is it usable (ie: not contaminated with salt or toxic chemicals)?
In Arizona?
Others would say "A fool and his money are soon parted".
if you are within 100 miles of a natural body of water, or in a flood plain, or anywhere that it rains semi-regularly, drilling will get you to a source of water.
there's no magic or divination involved.