LETTER TO JOHN N. MCMAHON FROM EDIE BARKER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85M00364R001001540010-3
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 16, 2008
• Sequence Number: 10
• Publication Date: December 1, 1983
• Content Type: LETTER

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of the
Thd 'Rateo
11
3inunt of Represent tiUE5
HARRY REID
NEVADA
. COMMITTEES:
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
TRAVEL AND TOURISM CAUCUS
SELECT COMMITTEE ON AGING
December 1, 1983
Mr. John N. McMahon
Deputy Director of Central Intelligence
Central Intelligence Agency
Washington, D.C. 20505
Dear Mr. McMahon:
. Please find enclosed the newspaper article by Dino
Brugioni Congressman Harry Reid discussed with you.
If you have additional questions, please do not hesitate
to call.
EDIE BARKER
O WASHINGTON OFFICE: 1711 LONGWORTH HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D.C. 20515, [phone]
0 LAS VEGAS OFFICE: 420 FEDERAL BUILDING, 300 LAS VEGAS BLVD., So.. LAS VEGAS, NEVADA 89101, [phone]
0 HENDERSON/BOULDER CITY OFFICE: 201 LEAD STREET. ROOM 26, HENDERSON, NEVADA 89015, [phone]
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 ue owns no stock in the three cunt- quarters t ninylon, u.t,.,
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bletechn~.Iogycouldhav~. stopped floo.
t3y ono A. Bruglont
News Service
he massive flooding pow plagu?i
. ing the West largely could have,
:burn prevented by a. federal govern;
anent that had the technology, meth-
nudulugy data and expertise to do so,
but for a variety of bureaucratic rea?'
ns; chose not to.
The National Weather Service
bombarded us with the news that
the snowfall in the mountains was of
record proportions and in some ar-
eas was two, three and four times
the normal fall. While there was am-
pie warning of an-impending disas.
.are, little or nothing was done in
11'asha,gton to plan any action to
lie's of damage now being done.
Gerald Wlliams, chief National
Wunther Service hydrologist at Salt
Luke City, said last week that the
gu a rnment does not have enough
how and runoff guages in the Rocky
". Mountains to quickly predict a sud-
d~n and serious snow melt.
Yet the Louis and expertise were
- The NASA satellite photos
were clear, detailed and encom-
passed the areas of snow melt con.
cerned. Additional data could have
been provided by NASA or Air
Force photographic overflights,
- The U.S. Geological Survey
had available maps of the areas of
concern, of sufficient detail and the
scale required for snow melt.mea-
surement and analysis.
Iles had detailed knowledge of the NASA and the Department of De-
geology of the affected area; the ar? fense. As a result of this lack of
eas of erosion and silting were well. coordination. and cooperation, cities
known from previous rains and snow and towns had little or no warning of
melts. Chronic problems that exist impending diuster, although the ar?
on Slide Mountain between Carson eas and the magnitude of the clam.
City and Reno were also well known. age could have been accl-rately pre.
? dieted
.
Why then was not this talent, .ex?. been positioned for hugging. 'I'hea
pertise and- equipment organized It seems strange, that in matters I
data on water flow in the streams
and applied? Why was there no mas? I involving the national security oat- it and rivers was comprehensive.
ter plan of action? Why was there I side our borders - such as landing
- The Defense Mapping Agency
and the CIA have excellent photo-
grammetie capabilities which could
have been used to measure and com-
pute the amount of snow and the
attendant run-off water that would
come from such snow packs. The lay
of the snow in the mountains and
the streams to which the water
would flow could-also' easily have
been determined. With the now
computed, areas of flooding could
have been predicted.
little or no warning of disaster to
those concerned? From my experi?
ence of over 40 years within the fed.
era/ establishment, experts from the
cited organizations would have been
willing, even eager, to give their tal-
ents to spare the suffering and darn
the Marines in Lebanon, or remov
inq troops from the Sinai in imple
menbng the Camp David accords
task forces are organized with ex-
perts from the various agencies de?
tached from their regular duties and
i assigned to aid in the planning and
There were many options:
- The U.S. Army Engineers had
experts in the construction of levees,
the channelization uf' water, and
flood and neat control problems.
Earth?n oving "uipinunt could have
been pre?positiunud in the flood .
? prone areas. Sand could also have
- The Tennessee Valley Author- 1
ity has developed an elaborate tele-
conferencing system for drawing,
down dams and reservoirs to contain
heavy runoffs from ruins and snows.
Their model could easily have been
adapted.
are done to our Western states.. execution of a particular mission. - The U.S. Army has tons of
The fault lies with management in Yet, when at comes to domestic aging explosives that it is willing to
use on worthwhile' projects. On ad-
the federal executive and with the matters involving the nation's eco- i
i
r
h
F
eters
,
oto
nterp
ce
rom expert p
Congress that did not encourage, or- ( nomic security, little or nothing is v
I gistrs,
der or legislate such cooperation. + done. I am convinced that had a task geologists, h and and been h) iutu nter ete yd ulugists or mud
Each organization went its separate.Il, force of experts been organized to
and uncoordinated way. The Na. I report directly to the president and I holding or trapping areas created.
tional Weather Service relied mainly the Congress, the material damage -There are many local, state and
on ground observations rather than J to the Western states and the loss of academic organizations possessing
using space-age techniques devel? life, could have been substantially' additional knowledge and equip-
oped by the intelligence agencies, controlled and reduced. i ment that could auve been brought
- Within the federal establish-
ment, there already exists the com-
puter capacity to process and ana-
l-Le the data required for this task.
- Local; state and federal agen?,
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to bear on the problem. At the very,
? least, state road crews, private con!;;
struction contractors and the Na.'?
tional Guard should have been fully,'
mobilized as if for a catastrophic,
blizzard.
The total amount of money and
effort expended on the creation of a
tusk force would have been minima
compared to the cost to the federal
government in loans and aid to di-` :Z,
saster victims. And this does not.,
take into account the pain and suf- '
fering that the victims would have
been spored.
.We have learned much from this
year's experience. But meteorology'
gists have warned that we might ex-
perience record snowfalls for, the'
next three years. It's not too early, >-
therefore, to start planning for the ti.
creation of a national task force pro. .
vided with the beat of data and
equipment, and staffed by the finest.
state, federal and academic experts;,,,`
Dino A. Brugionl is a retired senior;
official and reconaissance and phor,
to interpretation expert for the Cenr?
tral intelligence Agency.