My property is on very sandy soil, and I've learned historically from neighbors there used to be a creek and a retention pond at the top of the hill that no longer exist thanks to development.
Our water table fluctuates seasonally, in the winter it's about 2 feet down and in the summer much more with our seasonal droughts. We have an unlined pond that was here when we bought the house. It's steep sided and closer to the house than I think is best but the house stays dry and I've been working in the summers when the pond goes dry rearranging the rocks and pond margins to be more naturalistic for plants and wildlife. The steep sides do help during rain events, right now for example the water level is up 6" or so from two days ago and when the rain settles the rain water will go with the water table and appear to be back to normal. It definitely works and plays a major role in keeping our property from flooding.
If you want the pond I say try excavating it. It will at least give the water somewhere to go. I view and treat it as 1 massive rain garden with the pond being zone 1.
