Typical solutions are:
French Drains - a gravity driven, underground water collection system that will eventually pipe the water to the lowest outlets on your lot
Down Spouts - Controls all rain water collected by your roof and gutters. All downspouts are connected to a drainage system to facilitate the flow of water to its designed destination.
Dry Creeks - create a swale that provides a low spot and drainage route for water collecting in your yard.
Sump Pump - Create a pit in your basement and pump it to the property's edge
Non-permeable landscape fabric - Re-grade around the house to create a slope from foundation walls. Install non permeable fabric over the newly graded areas. Top dress the fabric with gravel to allow water to move 5' - 10 away from the foundation.
Dry Wells - depending on the percolation (link to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percolation) of your area, dig a large hole, line it with a permeable fabric, and fill it with gravel. This allows the water to be slowly absorbed into the Earth like a sponge. From there it will eventually wick into the atmosphere.
