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Canyonfalls Creek Pump Station

A rendering of Tacoma Water’s Canyonfalls Creek Pump Station.

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Jason Moline, PE

Project Manager, Tacoma Water

We need to pressurize a water transmission pipeline

We are fixing an issue with a major pipeline that delivers drinking water. This pipe is one of the biggest in our system (large enough for a person to crouch inside) and it stretches 27 miles. It has carried water since 1913 and is one of two main pipelines that bring water from Tacoma Water’s Green River source. 

We need to pressurize this pipeline by 2051 to continue keeping our drinking water safe. To fully pressurize the pipeline, we will complete several projects between now and 2051. All of these projects are part of our larger effort called the Pipeline 1 Pressurization Program. 

Why is Tacoma Water doing this now? 

The Department of Health has required the utility to make these changes so the pipe will continue to safely serve our customers into the future. The first major construction project under this program is the Canyonfalls Creek Pump Station project. This pump station will help us improve how we move water in the pipeline. We will also do additional work in future projects to complete the Pipeline 1 Pressurization Program. 

Who is involved?

Tacoma Water will deliver the Canyonfalls Creek Pump Station project using the Progressive Design-Build method (this method encourages the utility to collaborate early with the contractor to make the design and construction more efficient).  

Tacoma Water selected Tapani, Inc. with Windsor Engineers as the design-build team after the Washington State Capital Projects Advisory Review Board approved the decision to use this type of delivery method. Tacoma Water staff also contributed design input. 

Jacobs Engineering created the implementation plan for the Pipeline 1 Pressurization Program. Brown and Caldwell is serving as the owner’s advisor for Canyonfalls Creek Pump Station.  

The Canyonfalls Creek Pump Station project design began May 2025. Construction will start in November 2026 and be complete in March 2028.  

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Details about the upcoming construction projects

This project will help us improve the pipeline and deliver more water to neighborhoods that sit at higher elevations. These improvements will also let us keep the pipeline shut down longer for repairs and maintenance, while reducing service impacts for customers. In the long run, we expect this work to lower the overall cost of the 30‑year program, which helps keep utility rates affordable.  

The planned pump station site is about 300 feet southwest of the intersection of Falling Water Boulevard East and 126th Street East, near Bonney Lake. 

We are improving the pipeline so it can better handle both high and low pressure. Right now, the system releases extra water when pressure gets too high, which can cause water to spill out. When we pressurize the pipeline, some areas, especially near Bonney Lake and Tehaleh, would see this overflow. 

To prevent this, we will install special valves that are designed to control pressure inside the pipe. These valves will help keep the system stable and remove the chance of overflow. 

 These 48-inch diameter valves will help us shut down part of the pipeline when we need to replace sections of old pipe that can’t handle future increased pressures. 

This new 24-inch diameter pipe will connect the new Canyonfalls Creek Pump Station site to our existing water infrastructure so we can continually deliver water to the Bonney Lake and Tehaleh neighborhoods while we work on parts of the main pipeline.

We will remove 300 feet of 54‑inch pipe from service so we can perform tests on this material of pipe, which was originally installed in 1931. The results will help us understand how much of the pipeline we may need to replace in the future. We will install a new section of pipeline.