Darent and Cray

Catchment partnership vision

The Darent and Cray Catchment Partnership vision is to work towards building a clean and healthy river system with sustainable flows, which supports a diversity of wildlife by 2027.

Related websites

Find out more about the activities and ambitions of this catchment partnership and how you can get involved to help improve the water environment in the catchment.

Catchment challenges

Current challenges identified by partnership

  • Changes to the natural flow and water levels

    Over abstraction impacts on flow and the environment, particularly during the summer months

  • Physical modifications

    Fish passage, impoundment and sediment transport impacted by historic water milling and flood risk management structures

  • Pollution from agriculture and rural areas

    Nutrient enrichment from diffuse pollution and contamination by urban runoff impacts the ecology of the catchment

Wider water environment challenges identified by partnership

  • Nature Recovery, protect and enhance rare habitats including chalk streams

    The rivers here are chalk streams and highly degraded and in need of restoration

  • Connecting communities with nature

    The catchment contains globally rare chalk stream habitats, which offer a great opportunity for people to connect with nature

  • Build environmental resilience and adaptation to climate change

    Water Resource pressures impact both the Darent and Cray, climate change will exacerbate this

  • Reduce storm overflows and drainage system incidents

    Intermittent discharges have the potential to impact environmental quality, as rivers are small and lack dilution

  • Protect and restore healthy soils and nutrient balance

    Diffuse pollution is leading to Eutrophication of these rivers, reducing biodiversity and ecological resilience

  • Removing plastics/litter from the water environment

    Urban centres are sources of plastic, rivers are receptors and pathways to the oceans

Future challenges predicted by partnership

  • Changes to the natural flow and water levels

    Evidence includes: 1. History of droughts of 1976 and 1990s; 2. Report highlighting Cray and Darent in top 5 most impacted by abstraction; 3. EA data and recent review

  • Physical modifications

    Legacy of water milling and flood defence scheme infrastructure impacting habitat quality and connectivity

  • Pollution from towns, cities and transport

    Urban impacts from development, major roads and motorways

Future challenges predicted by Environment Agency

Future challenges in 2050

  • Pollution from Towns Cities and Transport
  • Invasive Non-native Species
  • Changes to the Natural Flow and Water Levels

Emerging challenges

  • Pollution from waste water
  • Changes to the Natural Flow and Water Levels

Partnership success highlights 2016 to 2021

The Darent and Cray Catchment Partnership have engaged with local communities, raising awareness about the river and the pressures on it, and inspiring them to look after and protect their local rivers. The Partnership has assessed relevant data and evidence, investigated nature based solutions, abstraction pressures and natural flood management opportunities, collated ongoing citizen science initiatives within the catchment and explored impacts of and potential controls of invasive crayfish. The Partnership has also hosted catchment walkovers for partners and local people to understand and assess pressures on the river's health and natural function and identify potential solutions. The Partnership led ongoing engagement with local communities through the group and have delivered a number of habitat enhancement projects. Habitat restoration projects delivered by non-government organisations have addressed over shading throughout the catchment, poaching by livestock, fish passage at Sundridge weir, habitat quality through Footscray Meadows (River Cray) and habitat restoration at Acacia Hall, Central Park in Dartford. Similarly, Thames Water have undertaken habitat enhancement works on the River Cray as mitigation for low flows due to abstraction pressures.

Partnership development plans

The Partnership would like to develop to become financially sustainable to ensure its longevity and secure the benefits it is realising for the future. We would like to do much more to engage local communities, to raise awareness and involve them in our river improvement journey. We would also like to develop a better spatial coverage of citizen science schemes to augment our existing data and evidence base.

Partnership priority actions and measures for 2022 to 2027

  • Confident

    Upper Darent habitat restoration

    Reason for measure
    Manage modified habitats
    Delivery mechanism
    WEIF Water Environment Improvement Fund
    Location
    Upper Darent

  • Confident

    Hall Place fish passage project

    Reason for measure
    Manage modified habitats
    Delivery mechanism
    Other local funding
    Location
    Lower Cray

  • Confident

    Eynsford bypass channel

    Reason for measure
    Manage modified habitats
    Delivery mechanism
    WEIF Water Environment Improvement Fund
    Location
    Middle and Lower Darent

  • Confident

    Fish Passage above Dartford

    Reason for measure
    Manage modified habitats
    Delivery mechanism
    Potential future water industry programme
    Location
    Upper Darent

  • Confident

    Enhancement/no deterioration measures in 2020-2025 WINEP for Thames Water, South East Water and SES Water

    Reason for measure
    Manage modified habitats
    Delivery mechanism
    Confirmed water industry national environment programme 2020-2025
    Location
    Upper Darent

  • Confident

    Community Engagement

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage invasive non-native species
    Delivery mechanism
    Other local funding
    Location
    Upper Darent

  • Less certain

    Addressing abstraction issues on the Darent

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage abstractions
    Delivery mechanism
    Potential future water industry programme
    Barriers to delivery
    Prioritisation through WRSE
    Location
    Upper Darent

  • Less certain

    Addressing Water Quality issues arising from urban sources on the river Cray

    Reason for measure
    Control or manage urban diffuse pollution
    Delivery mechanism
    WEIF Water Environment Improvement Fund
    Barriers to delivery
    Enhance opportunities for collaborative projects and attract eligible funding as match funding
    Location
    Lower Cray

  • Less certain

    Addressing physical modification in the rivers Darent and Cray

    Reason for measure
    Mitigate the impacts on ecology from physical modifications in modified waters
    Delivery mechanism
    WEIF Water Environment Improvement Fund
    Barriers to delivery
    Community support for change and building a strong funding case
    Location
    Lower Cray

  • Less certain

    Landscape Recovery Network

    Reason for measure
    Manage modified habitats
    Delivery mechanism
    Landscape Recovery (ELMS)
    Barriers to delivery
    Success of bid submitted by KWT and SERT
    Location
    Middle and Lower Darent

  • Wider water environment

    Landscape Recovery

    Reason for measure
    Nature Recovery, protect and enhance rare habitats including chalk streams
    Delivery mechanism
    Landscape Recovery (ELMS)
    Location
    Middle and Lower Darent

  • Wider water environment

    Community Engagement project to link people with their river

    Reason for measure
    Connecting communities with nature
    Delivery mechanism
    Grant giving trusts and businesses
    Location
    Lower Cray

  • Wider water environment

    Increasing aquifer recharge through nature based solutions

    Reason for measure
    Build environmental resilience and adaptation to climate change
    Delivery mechanism
    Other Public funding
    Location
    Middle and Lower Darent

Catchment Partnership contributors

Partners involved in the creation of this page and the actions of the partnership: