The water runs downhill

The vernal pond in our front yard was growing by the day, fed by snowmelt and unable to drain completely because of the high river level on the other side of the levee. Oh, the transfer pump did its job and kept the shores from reaching our house, but those still waters run deep. Until last night. The river had ebbed enough to open the culvert gate and...whoosh! A stormy current of ice cold water rushed out to the river. The soil is still super-saturated though. Our sump pump in the basement cycles on and off constantly. It will take weeks for that to dry out.