Local water table affected by a pond

[Heaviside1925]

I tried to select the most appropriate forum for this question, so my apologies if it's better suited elsewhere. I am trying to give a relative some options on the best way remediate an issue they are having.
Soil type, midwestern clay. The house sits on a hill on a well-drained property. The house has a 10' basement with a walkout back patio. To the side of the house, there is 2-acre pond, approximately 30'-50' away. The pond surface is approximately 5' higher than the basement finished floor.
They have had some fairly substantial cracks develop in the basement wall as well as some upheaval and subsidence of the basement floor. They have also had water ingress at the edges of the basement floor where it meets the foundation. About 8 years ago, they had a contractor tell them the issue was their downspouts and they needed to be piped away. They had the contractor come in and install the piping. They said it helped in that they didn't get as much water in the basement when it rained but still had the same issues otherwise. My suggestion was to at the least install a sump pump but realistically they needed an engineering firm to come in to find the source of the water. In the meantime, I have been considering the sources of the water and I was entertaining the idea that the pond being so close to the house had affected the local water table. This maybe complete rubbish and I may be using the incorrect term saying local water table. I have looked to try to find resources to see if I'm going down an unnecessary rabbit trail but haven't been able to find anything. Could someone point me to some resources or just comment on whether or not my idea is possible?

 

[geotechguy1]

It sounds plausible that the pond elevates the groundwater around it, at least that it's not something I'd rule out. Expect that the groundwater level is mounded / elevated adjacent to a water feature although to what distance and what amount is more difficult to say.