This is a french drain (Url Below), we piped the water away with the corrugated/sleeved pipe (url below). We rented a ditch witch, bought crazy amounts of drain rocks, and laid about 200' of pipe 24" underground. The water then drained happily into the forest and away from our home. It was a bit more complicated than that, but easily done in a weekend with 3 people.
http://grounds-mag.com/ar/grounds_ma..._french_drain/
http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=prod...pic=goShopping