Usually you don’t have to do much to arrange for the water to enter your pipeline. There are two basic ways to build an intake. The water can be taken from a pool in the creek if it is deep enough to install a screened box at the beginning of the pipeline. Then it can usually be arranged for the pipeline to run downhill from there and the water can flow downhill through the length of the pipeline. The other possibility is to install a wedge wire screen at the beginning of the pipeline and arrange for the water to flow over it. This makes for a self-cleaning intake as the water flowing over the screen will wash away the debris and only very small particles can make it through.