A problem in practical hydrology

Springs (water) occur when the earth's surface dips below the top of the ambient water table. 

In wet areas, springs are commonly found at the base of the cliffs that bound the stream's valley and bubbling up in the back-swamp. Rains charge the aquifier in the uplands above the cliffs and the inward-angle of the intersection of the flood-plain and the cliff is the feature that cuts into the water-table.

My friend

I have a friend who purchased a property with the intention of it providing much of the food he will need as a retired person.

Unfortunately, only half of it is well enough drained to grow most food plants and even that is impaired by shade, Black Walnuts, buildings and driveways.

The other half is saturated for most of the growing season.

For scale, the plot measures approximately 250 feet in the east-west direction.

Here is a topographical map of the wet half. I added a green "springs here" feature and white arrows to illustrate direction of seepage.

I also noted the berm left by the channalizing spoils left behind after the county drain commission "improved" the stream.

To summarize, my friend is first penalized by the topography. He has a massive spring along the west side of his property that floods the north half of it. He is next penalized by the berm left by the drain commission that impairs the free-flow of that water toward the (natural) stream.

The wet-half of his property is dominated by willow, dogwood, buttonbush, silver maple, ash, brambles, jewelweed and other wetland species.

The good news is that the parcel was cheap.

I have been mulling-over my friend's challenges.

Yesterday, a friend sent me this video. It is slightly longer than one minute long.

It quickly occurred to me that my friend could create similar, though more gently sloped, raised beds using the back-blade of a tractor. As long as the bottoms of the canals are continuously sloped, then minnows from the stream can forage on mosquito larvae in the standing water. 

The spoils from the canals will raise the area he cultivates. The raised beds in the video look like they are only 18" above the surface of the water, so he doesn't need a lot of elevation. The canals will also breach the berm left behind by the drainage commission.

Issues include the EPA getting pissy about him landscaping "wet-lands" even though those wetlands are (partially) due to the drain commissions handling of the dredging spoils. Another issue is the effect of seasonal flooding eroding the features so he would have a maintenance issue.

The upside is that he would gain almost an acre of prime, well-drained, bottomland garden. Literally, fifty times more than he has now.