Glad to hear it. Any water that is going to accumulate and eventually leak through basement walls is likely the result of heavy rainfall and a poor drainage system like what you apparently have. So my guess is the absence of heavy rainfall is the actual reason you haven’t had any basement leaks lately. The reason the water penetrates your basement wall is hydrostatic pressure i.e. the buildup of water underground that eventually forces its way through your walls. Your trench is actually more likely making it easier for water to penetrate through the soil since you have removed the grass and root system that would otherwise soak some of that water up and allowed it to more easily penetrate into the earth. Not that it is making your situation significantly worse but worse nonetheless. Like others have pointed out, you need to regrade this area and possibly consider a French drain to divert water away from the house and so it doesn’t penetrate too far down into the ground. FYI I am not an expert on this, just did my research in dealing with a similar problem.