[LazyPup]

Curtain drains are effective when dealing with subsurface water that migrates laterally through the soil, but they are not effective for dealing with surface water which results from storm drainage or watercourse flooding.

The simplest and no doubt the cheapest solution to control surface water is to grade the land to create channels to drain the effected area. In many cases just grading the land a few inches will be all that is required.

In the above scenario there is a hill that would normally drain onto the flat land where the house sets. A continual depression could be graded at the base of the hill which would divert the watershed across the base of the hill and to the adjacent stream. Rather than create a specific ditch you could grade an area ten or twelve feet wide with a slight pitch of a foot or less at the center and tapering to the ground level. That could create a very effective storm drainage while still leaving the terrain comparitively flat for lawn mowers or landscaping equipment. The graded area should then be sod covered or planted with grass to prevent erosion.

I would also consider adding fill near the house foundation then grading to make a gentle slope away from the house. A build up of 8 or 10 inches at the foundation wall and sloped back away from the foundation for about ten feet should be adequate to minimize water in the basement.

Combine that with proper gutters and downspouts and pipe the downspouts away from the foundation wall to an adequate storm runoff area.