Deroche
| Deroche | |
|---|---|
  Deroche Location of Deroche in British Columbia | |
| Coordinates: 49°11′00″N 122°04′00″W / 49.18333°N 122.06667°WCoordinates: 49°11′00″N 122°04′00″W / 49.18333°N 122.06667°W | |
| Country |
 Canada |
| Province |
 British Columbia |
| first settler | 1861 |
| Area code(s) | 250, 778 |
Deroche is a farming and railway community on the Canadian Pacific Railway and BC Highway 7 located approximately 110 km east of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Deroche is adjacent to the eastern end of Nicomen Island, from which it is separated by the Nicomen Slough (NB a different location 3 km away was known as Deroche Landing). The community is at the foot of Nicomen Mountain and is immediately across the river from Chilliwack Mountain. The population of Deroche is about 148.
Name origin
The original name of Deroche was Derocier, but the local CPR station was given the current name to honour Joseph Deroche, who settled there in the early 1880s and had to BC from California in 1860 during the gold rush. Deroche died on March 19, 1922, age 99, and some of his descendants still live in the area.
Services
In addition to a store and garage and other small commercial enterprises, Deroche has an elementary school which is part of British Columbia School District No. 75 (Mission).
The Deroche water system service area was established in 1992 by the Dewdney-Alouette Regional District, and later became a Fraser Valley Regional District service area after reorganization of regional district boundaries. The water system serves the community of Deroche, which is in Electoral Area G of the regional district. The system was originally operated as a private water system under a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity, and was taken over by DARD in 1993. At that time, Deroche Creek was used as the source, but several debris flow incidents within the watershed severely affected the creek, causing interruptions of supply as well as several water quality challenges for the system. As a result, in 1999-2000 several upgrades to the system were carried out. The system was changed over to a groundwater well source, dramatically improving water quality and supply reliability.