YELLOWKNIFE - Thursday was International World Water Day, and a group of Yellowknifers planned to celebrate it by marching on the Alberta legislature in Edmonton.

Doug Ritchie, of Ecology North, said that close to a dozen people from Yellowknife and the NWT were expected to journey to Edmonton by bus this week for the rally.

"We're asking for a time-out on tar sands expansions," Ritchie said.

He added that they don't want the development stopped permanently, but would rather see the government complete studies on the environmental and health impacts on the expansion before moving ahead.

"The Alberta government assures us that they're being very, very, careful," he said.

But, Ritchie said, the Alberta government can't really say that when they haven't completed the studies.

The tar sands developments use large amounts of water from the Athabasca River to extract bitumen from the sand. Water from that river flows eventually into Great Slave Lake and the Mackenzie River.

Ritchie and some other people with Ecology North were scheduled to meet with Alberta's Minister of the Environment on Thursday.

Ritchie said they were hoping to talk to him about the tar sands expansions and about establishing a bilateral agreement on water between NWT and Alberta.

Only the NWT and Yukon have a bilateral agreement on shared water (lakes, rivers).

The NWT also plans to have the same agreement in place with British Columbia.

Environment Minister Michael McLeod wa sin Alberta on Tuesday to discuss the issue with his provincial counterpart Rob Renner.

From that meeting, both governments have agreed to move forward with the development of a bilateral water management agreement.

Thebacha MLA Michael Miltenberger was scheduled to meet up with the activists in front of the Alberta legislature.

Miltenberger said he already had plans to be in Edmonton for personal reasons.

"We're the only jurisdiction in Canada that's passed a motion that water is a fundamental right," Miltenberger said.

He said that an agreement between the NWT and BC and Alberta on water is important.

"Those jurisdictions have a high impact on our (water flow)," Miltenberger said.