In 1968, the district constructed a pumping plant on the Crooked River near Smith Rocks for additional water supplies. Natural flow from the Crooked River is pumped 120 feet up the Crooked River canyon  where it discharges into the main canal. The water then crosses the Crooked River in a 520 foot long concrete flume.

The pumping plant consists of nine vertical shaft pumps with a total capacity of 200 cubic feet per second. Each pump is powered by a 450-horsepower motor that pumps the water into a 60-inch steel-pipe discharge line.