Our stream is around 85 feet long plus minus with mini ponds at each turn, I made it a switch back stream due to our slope. In the stream I do have catch basins that keep some water in them for plants, critters etc. The stream is from one foot to two feet wide, in some places it drops to 6 inches after all the rocks, plants etc where added.
We bought a clear water pump from harbor freight, 115 foot head pressure. Cheap, 39 or 49 dollars can't recall. It is not a gusher, ie. 650 gph but plenty of flow for us and cheap to run.
We looked at pond pumps that could handle our head pressure of 60-80 feet, the cost was unreal and the electricity use off the chart lol.
We do have the pump on a timer, all we had to do was add a check valve so the pipes would stay full of water, it is not a self primer.