are you sure they haven't damaged a drain or water inlet line in the process of installing the gas?
if a water inlet line was damaged and is on the inside of the meter it would spin the meter slowly (over say an hour or two) when you don't use any water in the house for that time.
i would call the people that did the gas pipe install and ask them to find and fix. they're covered by insurance..and accidents happen.
[edit] maybe they hit a drain pipe instead.
whatever the problem, they should fix it. you can't install a pipe in a way as to create a ditch that would cause moisture problems under normal conditions, which includes normal rain. to cause problems the ditch would need a considerable amount of bedding screenings and wrong slope, to start causing problems straight away just from rain infiltration into soil. or do you get five inches of rain each time?
you can't interfere (change) the bedding material (e.g. pouring in cement) so alternatives like french drain or deep auger holes (only if hydrology of the soil allows) are hard work and expensive.
EDIT TO ANSWER YOUR SPECIFIC QUESTION: Yes, whatever you can do to direct water away from the foundation wall will work. My neighbor, literally, just stopped by to borrow a circular saw so he can cut some plywood into 2'x4' sheets to lay against his house to direct water away.
Mass real estate owner here with same problem in 3 different properties. All rubble basements get water, especially in Mass in October.
On the outside:
When it gets dryer or in in the spring, dig out about two feet down (deeper if you can) and a foot out from the foundation and fill it with cement to 3 to 6 inches above the surrounding dirt, sloped away from the house It'll take 5 bags of cement for each horizontal foot (or thereabouts), so you could end up hand mixing 30 to 50 bags depending on the horiztonal run. As you poor the cement, feel free to lay in some chicken wire or other metal mesh or screen to strengthen.
On the inside:
Buy a dehumidifier with a humidistat and leave it plugged in to help speed drying. (another edit: get it to drain into a basement drain or sink....otherwise it'll fill with water and shut off...pain in the ass to empty...build a shelf high up in the basement to put the dehumidifier on..above the sink if there is one...)
Install a sump pump. Of course, if you go to Home Depot today, when it's pissing rain, they'll all be sold out. Dig a hole in the lowest point of your basement and put in a sump pump. I won't explain it all here, but any homeowner can do it. Google "install sump pump"
http://www.mountprospect.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=2886
In theory you can drylock from the inside, but I've had no luck with it. You can also spray foam insulate from the inside - saw that on This Old House, but I think it would make a hellamess.
Best Answer
I'm not entirely clear what you are asking. If the water table is 3' from the surface, I agree with your neighbor...a basement is a bad idea.
Concrete is porous so in and off itself will do absolutely nothing to stop the water. You can waterproof it by applying a rubber based membrane to the outside, but with a high water table, it will always try to find a way in. You'd have to definitely install French drains and a sump pump as well.