The first public report about a new “environmentally friendly” policy to manage water levels on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River comes thankfully with no surprises, says the executive director of Save The River.

“They are continuing in a positive direction,” said Jennifer Caddick, executive director of the 1,400-member group that has almost equal representation from Ontario and New York State residents and businesses.

Caddick and other river-watchers applauded elements of the proposed new policy during a series of sneak-peeks last week by the International Joint Commission, which controls water levels.

Caddick said a fact sheet released recently by the commission appears to be consistent with the stated draft policy goal of moving away from strict adherence to the original 1956 plan, which failed to consider the effects of dramatic swings in water levels on natural wetlands, shoreline properties and recreational boaters.

“I’m pleased they are moving forward with a more natural approach that mimics historical flow patterns,” she said.

The proposed new policy was developed by a working group after a previous attempt to forge a new plan was stillborn in March 2008.

The previous attempt built on five years of study, but it failed to satisfy the disparate viewpoints of competing interests such as commercial shippers, tourism operators and property owners.

The newest proposal, which aims to restore wetlands and eliminate a sudden draw-down of water in July and August, taps into elements favoured by the likes of Save The River and Sen. Bob Runciman, who also gave his thumbs-up after a sneak-peek of the proposal last month.

Caddick said she is eager to see the completed policy and hopes it sticks to an objective of being less disruptive to the natural flow of the river than the existing plan.

“It seems they are releasing some of the details of the plan so people can wrap their heads around what the change will mean at a practical level.”

Bernard Beckhoff, Canadian spokesman for the commission, said the full plan will be released early next year and will be followed by public consultations that will be advertised in advance.

Beckhoff said the fact sheet provides “an outline of what people can expect” in the full policy, including a change to a more natural water flow.

“There are no significant changes,” he said.

According to the fact sheet, the original water levels policy prevented extreme high and low levels of water but harmed the health of the river and the lake by degrading wetlands and other habitat.