I have a backyard that was
DESIGNED to have water drain past my main back door. The entire property
was sloped this way on purpose. Water from the front half of the yard, during
heavy rain, flows exactly to the base of my steps. (Water at the rear of the
yard drains to the right but goes behind the garage and out.)

A complication is that
at some point before we bought this 27-year-old house, the walkway right at
that point sank a little, creating a low spot in a concrete walkway that runs
between my carport and the patio, so the mud and other debris collects right at
my back entry. I plan on having those concrete leveler people out to give me an
estimate to bring the concrete back up to its intended slope.

(BTW, the narrow brown line
is a fence and there is a brick column for the carport.)

Leaving all else alone, this would likely be enough of a fix. However, I am
planning on adding a pergola and gravel patio and may not have the concrete
walkway brought up ahead of time. In any case, I want to prevent the
gravel from my future patio from being swept up by the downstream current.
Considerations could be layout (I've thought of putting an edged bed and a slab
"threshold" entry point where the concrete would meet the gravel
instead of having the gravel just butt up against the concrete walk), materials
(larger stones vs decomposed granite), etc. I wish I could put in a
French drain but am landlocked by concrete in this area. I'm trying to keep it
DIY and lower budget, and I don't want it to take all year. Just needing
some ideas about how to keep my future patio from washing away! Thanks.