Budman,

The middle of the yard is about 150 feet from the creek with about a 15
foot rise. I want to run about 4 or 5 sprinklers at once. I would like
to run a hose from the creek to the pump (or does the pump have to be
near/in the creek?)

I see that you have already gotten approval from the county.

You might want to take a look at "pond pumps". They come in a variety of
sizes, are generally quiet, and typically have low energy requirements. You
can usually find them at home centers, landscaping supplies, feed stores,
or fish/pond stores. The smaller ones are generally designed to sit right
down in the pond, but the larger ones often have threaded inputs if you
want to mount the pump remotely. They usually come with filters to keep the
major debris out of the pump. I haven't checked, but I think you could
probably find a pond pump that would have enough lift and flow to power
your sprinklers (one sprinkler at a time will be easier than all at once).

If you really want to power all the sprinklers at once, and don't want to
worry about debris in the water, they do make special "trash" pumps that
will pump just about anything. Big 2" lines with lots of flow. You could
probably empty that creek in short order. I think Northern Hydraulics
sells them? Of course, then you need to worry about the sprinklers clogging
up with debris...

I would personally use PVC pipe to run to/from the pond. It's cheap,
slightly flexible (if you need that), and won't corrode like galvanized. It
also won't collapse under suction like a garden hose will. You could bury
it underground to keep it from being a trip hazard or getting in the way of
lawnmowers and whatnot.

Another option would be that flexible black poly pipe. It's fairly cheap,
rugged, and won't corrode. Pretty standard stuff at farm supplies...

You can use adapters to connect any type of pipe to your pump and
sprinklers.

Just some ideas,

Anthony