Water Table in a Habitat

In regards to water percolation through soil:
I've heard from my Dad that the wheat farm of his Dad in Canada
in the late '40's used the tile system mentioned in a previous post.
Tile was dug in sloped to a large catch basin/ reservoir. The
heavy winter snow melt was caught as it percolated down through the soil
and reused for summer irrigation by pumping the same water back up the
same tile that was used for the run off.

Also:
I worked on an engineer project here in Portland back in the 70's
where a high school football field was converted to a much more efficient
method of grass maintenance. (Not to mention the removal of the 5 foot
elevation rise that ran down the middle of the entire length of the
field.)
Huge quantities of soil were removed and a liner was placed on
the bottom. Sloped channels leading to a main catch basin were placed.
There was at least 3 feet of sand placed over the liner. Pipe was placed
on top at normal irrigation levels. An initial supply of water was
placed and maintained in the main catch basin.
The turf layer was placed on top and the normal watering
procedures began. As the water percolated through the sand it would run
eventually back to the catch basin.
Later liquefied weed and feed was added to the catch basin to be
pumped to the grass via the normal watering process.
Seemed like a straight forward process. The field was still in
operation the last time I heard 10 years ago.
Steve Ivens