Monsoon was a cat named for the sub-seasonal summer event at Arcosanti that struck in the mid to late summer.
Monsoonal patterns usually involve both sudden and extreme events during the day and long strong steady rain events that go into the night and sometimes the next day.
Most of the 12-16" annual rainfall totals at Arcosanti come in about six months. Its possible the patterns have grown less predictable and more extreme as with other regions globally. Yet the particular aspect of the monsoonal cycle register as an another possible side effect of Global Climate Change that seems regionally specific. Specifically this refers to the growth in the number of months that can be considered monsoonal as the last several seasons seemed quite long and unpredictable with the rains dragging well into September. This led to some confusion as to whether it was indeed still Monsoonal.
Monsoons involve usually higher rates of rainfall per hour than the winter weather season which comes before the spring which is usually much drier than regular temperate climate zones that characterize most of the USA's weather patterns.
For many years at Arcosanti it has seemed like growing in this climates is a disaster. Yet the fact is that in the early years of the project significant crops were coming out of the fields near camp. The right calibration of the rain and planting can lead to significant results, but you have to get to know and listen to the patterns and vibrations of the desert more so than in other regions where rain is plentiful and where it does not get so hot and stay hot. Agriculture can succeed in this region and monsoons can be capitalized on to yield significant agricultural production, but you have to change your mindset about farming and agriculture and readjust it.
The Monsoon primarily is viewed as positive in that it both brings badly needed rains and cools the temperature as the humidity rises dramatically. So its a time when air conditioners won't work. The Monsoonal patterns are when the normal desert cycle shifts and water deficit becomes water surplus. So more clouds, more moisture = less temperature and higher humidity.
One of the struggles with agriculture at Arcosanti is the people running the project had no knowledge base on how to deal with the challenges the desert provided and how to turn them into assets. In terms of monsoons you need to not only know about them and their characteristics but how they fit into the big picture of desert life at Arcosanti.
Monsoons can produce large amounts of water. The water can be stored at high elevation/gravity locations and be distributed to lower elevations while producing power and the water still under pressure for house and even industrial use for a time after the rain (possibly 2-3 months after the monsoon if cisterns were built into the Mesa at its very top). Possibly new buildings could include rain collection systems?
Because of the extreme way in which desert rains come erosion is a way of life here much more than in more temperate high water regions of the US. They tend to have a more distributed rainfall pattern throughout the year with summer being the dry season. In the desert region we are in we still get significant seasonal rainfall but its not enough and well distributed to provide year round plant life. So before the monsoon the desert basically dies for a few weeks when the water runs out and it gets really hot. Talk about going to extremes!
It might be worthwhile to consider how in the (Re)formulation of Arcosanti we might design a plan that takes advantage of the seasons and the power of the place. To consider not just passive solar in the design and placement of the buildings but also other ecological patterns and characteristics of the property and convert them into assets rather than liabilities. Additionally to look at the way in which creating synergy between systems helps also to convert what the mainstream society considers a liability into an asset. Within permaculture a term financial permaculture has been birthed to explain what is being said above and to develop practical models of such micro-economic theory. With the idea that the micro solutions can be woven into a macro level global economic model for sustainability that is driven by bottom up economics.
So the monsoon at Arcosanti represents renewal and rejuvenation. Now that Paolo has passed, It is up to us to figure out how to develop, design, augment and improvise existing technologies to service the system and realize the dream of the founder in creating some kind of model for conscious living here