Hatzic Lake | |
---|---|
Location | East of Mission, British Columbia |
Coordinates | 49°10′30″N122°14′35″W / 49.17500°N 122.24306°W |
Lake type | oxbow lake |
Basin countries | Canada |
Max. length | 3.7 km (2.3 mi) |
Average depth | 2 m (6 ft 7 in) |
Max. depth | 15 m (49 ft) |
Surface elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
Islands | 1 (Hatzic Island) |
Hatzic Lake is an oxbow lake north of and draining into the Fraser River, immediately south of Hatzic Valley, and east of the benchland neighbourhood of Hatzic.
Neilson Regional Park [1] and the district of Mission is on the immediate west shore of Hatzic Lake, while the centre of the oxbow is Hatzic Island. Northeast of the lake is Dewdney Peak (Hatzic Mountain) which forms the southmost endpoint of the Douglas Ranges. In addition to a large number of private residences the locality has a few commercial campgrounds.
Hatzic Valley's Lagace Creek, Scorey Creek, and Hatzic Slough drain into the northern end of Hatzic Lake, providing it with water. Since these tributaries are intermittent, the water freshness and level of Hatzic Lake can vary seasonally.
The length of the lake, on its north–south axis, is approximately 3.7 km, while Hatzic Island is approximately 2.6 km in length, with the widest parts of the lake off the northern end of the oblong island at about 775 m. The width of the lake inclusive from its extreme west to east is about 2.5 km. BC Highway 7 and the mainline of the Canadian Pacific Railway cross its southern end, just south of the southernmost parts of Hatzic Island.
The depth of the lake is a uniform 2 to 3 meters, except immediately north of Hatzic Island to west of Hatzic Island where depth varies between 3 and 15 meters. Because the lake is surrounded with private residences launch sites for non-residents' boats are limited and smaller boats tend to be launched from Neilson Regional Park or near Hatzic bridge on Lougheed Highway. [2]
Because the lake is very shallow it is warm, and is popular for swimming, water sports and water-skiing. The lake water temperature and farm fertiliser run-off introduced via Scorey Creek has been blamed for invasive flowering rush and algal bloom issues, the latter of which has led to Fraser Health-imposed swimming bans. [3] [4] In 2019 the BC Government funded over a quarter million dollars for addressing invasive plant concerns in Hatzic Lake. [5]
The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for 1,375 kilometres (854 mi), into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of Vancouver. The river's annual discharge at its mouth is 112 cubic kilometres (27 cu mi) or 3,550 cubic metres per second (125,000 cu ft/s), and each year it discharges about 20 million tons of sediment into the ocean.
The Fraser Valley is a geographical region in southwestern British Columbia, Canada and northwestern Washington State. It starts just west of Hope in a narrow valley encompassing the Fraser River and ends at the Pacific Ocean stretching from the North Shore Mountains, opposite the city of Vancouver BC, to just south of Bellingham, Washington.
Mission is a city in the Lower Mainland of the province of British Columbia, Canada. It was originally incorporated as a district municipality in 1892, growing to include additional villages and rural areas over the years, adding the original Town of Mission City, long an independent core of the region, in 1969. It is bordered by the city of Abbotsford to the south and the city of Maple Ridge to the west. To the east are the unincorporated areas of Hatzic and Dewdney.
Highway 20, also known as the Chilcotin Highway, and officially dubbed the Alexander MacKenzie Highway, is one of the two main east–west routes in the Central Interior of British Columbia (the other being Highway 16. The Chilcotin Highway runs 457 km from Williams Lake westward through the Chilcotin region to North Bentinck Arm, an inlet from the Pacific Ocean where the town of Bella Coola is located. As of 2006, all but 57 km has been paved, mostly for expediting the removal of timber from the region, which, like most of British Columbia, is afflicted with pine beetle infestations. Logging traffic and ranch-related traffic on the route can be expected.
Hope is a district municipality at the confluence of the Fraser and Coquihalla rivers in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Hope is at the eastern end of both the Fraser Valley and the Lower Mainland region, and is at the southern end of the Fraser Canyon. To the east, over the Cascade Mountains, is the Interior region, beginning with the Similkameen Country on the farther side of the Allison Pass in Manning Park. Located 154 kilometres (96 mi) east of Vancouver, Hope is at the southern terminus of the Coquihalla Highway and the western terminus of the Crowsnest Highway, locally known as the Hope-Princeton, where they merge with the Trans-Canada Highway. Hope is at the eastern terminus of Highway 7. As it lies at the eastern end of the Fraser Valley in the windward Cascade foothills, the town gets very high amounts of rain and cloud cover – particularly throughout the autumn and winter.
The Thompson River is the largest tributary of the Fraser River, flowing through the south-central portion of British Columbia, Canada. The Thompson River has two main branches, the South Thompson River and the North Thompson River. The river is home to several varieties of Pacific salmon and trout. The area's geological history was heavily influenced by glaciation, and the several large glacial lakes have filled the river valley over the last 12,000 years. Archaeological evidence shows human habitation in the watershed dating back at least 8,300 years. The Thompson was named by Fraser River explorer, Simon Fraser, in honour of his friend, Columbia Basin explorer David Thompson. Recreational use of the river includes whitewater rafting and angling.
The Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD) is a regional district in British Columbia, Canada. Its headquarters are in the city of Chilliwack. The FVRD covers an area of 13,361.74 km² (5,159 sq mi). It was created in 1995 by an amalgamation of the Fraser-Cheam Regional District and Central Fraser Valley Regional District and the portion of the Dewdney-Alouette Regional District from and including the District of Mission eastwards.
The Stave River is a tributary of the Fraser, joining it at the boundary between the municipalities of Maple Ridge and Mission, about 35 kilometres (22 mi) east of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in the Central Fraser Valley region.
Beaumont Provincial Park is a provincial park located at the southeast end of Fraser Lake, between Fort Fraser and the town of Fraser Lake, British Columbia, approximately 40 km west of Vanderhoof, British Columbia. The park contains the site of the original Fort Fraser.
Davis Lake Provincial Park is a 185 acres (0.75 km2) park in British Columbia, Canada, established as a protected provincial park in October 1963. It is located east of the southern end of Stave Lake, northeast of Mission, British Columbia, approximately 18 km north on Sylvester Rd from BC Highway 7. There are campgrounds and beaches at the south end of the lake, access is walk-in only via a 1 km unmaintained gravel road.
Monkman Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, southwest of Tumbler Ridge and northeast of Hansard. Like Monkman Pass, Monkman Lake, Monkman Creek and Monkman Falls, it was named after Alexander Monkman.
Knouff Lake is a lake located 45 km (28 mi) north of Kamloops at an elevation of 1,149 metres. Access is off the Yellowhead Highway via the Heffley Creek Road, or alternatively via Vinsulla off the Yellowhead Highway, which is located approx 5 km further past Heffley Creek Road. It is a medium sized lake with a large population of moderate to large rainbow trout which are often fished using caddisfly as bait. Knouff Lake is serviced with hydro, phone, year round maintained roads and school bus pickup.
Burnaby Lake is a lake located in Burnaby, British Columbia and is the focal geographic feature and namesake of Burnaby Lake Regional Park. The lake occupies 3.11 square kilometres of land, and is home to a large variety of wildlife. At least 70 species of birds make the lake and surrounding areas their home, and about 214 species of birds visit the lake throughout the year. The park has been managed by the Metro Vancouver Parks Department since 1977.
Madge Lake is a freshwater lake located in eastern Saskatchewan, 18 km east of the town of Kamsack and just a few kilometres west of the province's eastern boundary. Road access to the lake is via Highway 57, which passes by the south shore of Madge Lake as it connects Highway 5 to Manitoba Highway 83.
Dewdney, originally named Johnson's Landing from 1884–1892, is an unincorporated community in the Central Fraser Valley of British Columbia, Canada, about 15 km east of the city of Mission. It was incorporated as a district municipality on April 17, 1892, including adjoining areas of Hatzic and Hatzic Island but the anticipated real estate boom on that island didn't pan out and economic damage from the Great Fraser Flood of 1894 led to the municipality's disincorporation on March 12, 1906. Another municipality eastwards, Nicomen, was incorporated in the same year but similarly later disincorporated. Though in the same school district as Mission, it and other adjoining rural areas did not join that municipality when offered. It is now represented as part of Electoral Area 'G' in the regional district government, which currently is the Fraser Valley Regional District.
Blue Lake Regional Park is a public park in Fairview, in the U.S. state of Oregon. The 101-acre (41 ha) park, near the south shore of the Columbia River in Multnomah County, includes many covered and uncovered picnic areas, playing fields for sports such as softball, a cross country course and infrastructure related to lake recreation including swimming, boating, and fishing. Encompassing wooded areas, three ponds, and a wetland in addition to the lake, the park is frequented by migrating birds and other wildlife. Paved paths run through the park, which is near the 40-Mile Loop hiking and biking trail. Park vegetation includes cottonwoods, willows, and other trees and shrubs as well as wetland plants such as cattails.
Hatzic Island is an island located in the centre of Hatzic Lake, an oxbow lake formation north of the Fraser River, on the east side of Mission, British Columbia, Canada.
Cascade Falls Regional Park is a regional park under the administration of the Fraser Valley Regional District in the Hatzic Valley of the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. The park was originally 9.5 hectares in area but was expanded to a current 22 hectares. It has picnic tables and pit toilets, with various hiking trails and a walkway leading to a viewing platform over a large waterfall, which is 15 minutes walk from the park's parking lot.
Hatzic is a historic community in the Central Fraser Valley region of the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada, located on the east side of the City of Mission and including areas beyond the municipal boundary to the east and northeast.
The Hatzic Valley is the southerly, lowland portion of the Fraser Valley Regional District Electoral Area "F" of British Columbia's Lower Mainland. The valley was carved as a result of southward glacial action, being "centered along a low‐lying glacial trough that extends from Stave Lake to the Fraser Valley."