Hatzic Island is an island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

 located in the centre of Hatzic Lake

Hatzic Lake

Hatzic Lake is an oxbow lake adjoining the Fraser River on the east side of Mission, British Columbia, Canada, immediately below that district municipality's neighbourhood of Hatzic, which is on a benchland above and to the west of the lake...

, an oxbow lake

Oxbow lake

An oxbow lake is a U-shaped body of water formed when a wide meander from the main stem of a river is cut off to create a lake. This landform is called an oxbow lake for the distinctive curved shape, named after part of a yoke for oxen. In Australia, an oxbow lake is called a billabong, derived...

 formation adjoining the Fraser River

Fraser River

The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Mount Robson in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia at the city of Vancouver. It is the tenth longest river in Canada...

 just east of Mission

Mission, British Columbia

Mission, the core of which was formerly known as Mission City, is a district municipality in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is situated on the north bank of the Fraser River overlooking the City of Abbotsford and with that city is part of the Central Fraser Valley. Mission is the...

, British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. Approximately 2.6 km in length from north to south and just over 600 m wide at its widest point, the island is oblong-shaped like the oxbow that formed it, and is accessed via a bridge near its southern end which connects via a short road to BC Highway 7

British Columbia provincial highway 7

Highway 7, known for most of its length as the Lougheed Highway, is an alternative route to Highway 1 through the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia...

, which crosses Hatzic Lake at its southern end, as does the mainline of the Canadian Pacific Railway

Canadian Pacific Railway

The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

.

The island is an unincorporated recreational and residential community with municipal-level services provided by the Fraser Valley Regional District

Fraser Valley Regional District

The Fraser Valley Regional District is a regional district in British Columbia, Canada. The FVRD covers an area of 13,361.74 km²...

, and features some public beach access as well as privately-run campgrounds. Children from the island attend school in Hatzic, a suburban neighbourhood on the east side of Mission which is on the uplands immediately west of Hatzic Lake, the western shore of which is in the District of Mission. The lake is shallow and warm and popular for swimming, water-skiing and other activities. Hazards from flooding caused by the annual spring freshet

Freshet

A freshet can refer to one of two things:* A flood resulting from heavy rain or a spring thaw. Whereas heavy rain often causes a flash flood, a spring thaw event is generally a more incremental process, depending upon local climate and topography...

of the Fraser River have been ameliorated by gates and pump stations complemented by the extensive dyke system flanking the Fraser.