WATERTOWN — The regulators of Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River levels say the lake will likely remain above its long-term average level this year, but below levels seen in the flood years of 2017 and 2019.

The International Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River Board said Wednesday that, as of Monday, the lake’s level is 246.92 feet, which is about 16 inches above its long-term average for this point in the year, but 14 inches below the record level recorded in 2019.

The board released record amounts of water through the Robert Moses-Robert H. Saunders Power Dam in Massena and Cornwall, Ontario, during the months of January, February and March. To assist in removing as much water as possible, the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway shipping season was delayed by as many as 12 days, although this achieved just a little above one inch of extra water being removed from the lake.

What will dictate outflows in the coming weeks will not be shipping, but the weather and its impact on the Ottawa River freshet, according to the board. When the river’s freshet came later and more suddenly than usual in 2019, Lake St. Louis west of Montreal surpassed flood stage, prompting regulators to reduce outflows. This simultaneously raised Lake Ontario’s level, which was already high due to extreme precipitation throughout the Great Lakes basin.

“While it is still early, at this point in the season, there are positive signs beginning to emerge that suggest more favorable conditions this spring than during the high water years of 2017 and 2109,” the board said in a statement. “The worst-case scenarios are starting to look less likely.”