North Kent drainage boards merge on 1 April 2026
From 1 April 2026, if you live, work or teach around the Medway and the North Kent marshes, flood management will be run by a single public body. Ministers have confirmed the North Kent Marshes Water Level Management Board, streamlining how water levels are managed across this low‑lying area.
In formal terms, the Secretary of State has confirmed a Scheme submitted by the Environment Agency under section 3 of the Land Drainage Act 1991. Statutory Instrument 2026 No. 285 was made on 10 March 2026 and comes into force on 1 April 2026; it extends to England and Wales but applies to England only, and no objections were recorded. It was signed for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs by William Harrington, Head of Rural Flood Risk.
The Order abolishes the Lower Medway Internal Drainage Board and the North Kent Marshes Internal Drainage Board, and brings their areas together as the North Kent Marshes Internal Drainage District. A new internal drainage board-the North Kent Marshes Water Level Management Board-is constituted to run that combined district.
Who will sit on the new board? On the commencement date the board comprises 11 elected members. For the start‑up phase, the Secretary of State appoints the first elected members; they hold office until the expiry of one year from the first 1 November following the day they are appointed. If, for example, they are appointed in March 2026, their term runs until 1 November 2027.
All property, contracts, statutory powers and duties of the two former boards transfer automatically to the new board on 1 April 2026. Any arrears of drainage rates raised by the former boards for periods before that date can still be recovered by the new board, and the final accounts of each abolished board must be made up to 31 March 2026 and audited as if the Scheme had not yet come into force.
If you are teaching or studying this, here’s the model in plain English. An internal drainage district is a mapped area with a special need to manage water levels. An internal drainage board is the public body that maintains main drains and smaller watercourses in that district, looks after pumps and sluices, and plans water‑level operations through the seasons.
How is it paid for? Boards are typically funded by drainage rates charged to owners of agricultural land and buildings, plus a ‘special levy’ paid by local councils from council tax to reflect the benefit to homes, businesses and roads in the district. This system is set out in the Land Drainage Act 1991 and explained by Defra and the Association of Drainage Authorities, and it means most householders will not receive a separate bill.
Why merge now? Running one board across linked marshes reduces duplication and allows a single maintenance plan for watercourses that do not stop at old boundaries. The Order notes that no objections were made during the confirmation process, which suggests partners had time to prepare and agree the move.
What will you notice locally? Day‑to‑day operations continue: clearing ditches, operating pumps during high tides or heavy rain, and balancing water levels for farming and wetland wildlife. You may simply see a new board name on notices or, if you farm within the district, on your drainage rate demand.
Membership in future will follow the familiar pattern in Schedule 1 to the 1991 Act. Alongside elected members, ‘charging authorities’-district or unitary councils-can appoint members to reflect the public interest in flood risk management. That mix helps decision‑making draw on both local land management and the needs of communities.
One quiet but important clause says the Scheme is conclusive evidence of the transfers. That line prevents paperwork gridlock when dozens of assets, contracts and rights need to move at once, from depot equipment and mapping records to land entry permissions for maintaining ditches.
For your classroom or community group, this Order makes a ready‑made case study. Plot the new district on a map, trace where upland water reaches these marshes, and discuss who pays, who decides, and how climate change pressures are shaping water management. Then keep an eye out for the new board’s public meeting dates once they are announced.
The government has not produced a separate impact assessment for this instrument, stating that no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen. That signals a governance tidy‑up rather than a change in service level, but it is still worth asking how the new board will set priorities in its first year.