WINNIPEG, Manitoba - A group of Manitoba residents plans to take its case against North Dakota's Devils Lake outlet to the Canadian federal courts.

David Estrin, a Toronto attorney and environmental law expert, says he believes the Canadian federal courts have the power to stop the project, which will drain water from Devils Lake, in northeastern North Dakota, into Lake Winnipeg.

Estrin met Thursday with a group of environmentalists, fishermen and municipal leaders, who announced afterward they would ask the Federal Court of Canada to force a halt to the project. Friends of the Earth Canada hired Estrin to prepare a legal memorandum outlining possible ways to stop the outlet.

"When diplomacy doesn't work, you have to look at the legal option," said Kevin Chudd, the mayor of Gimli, a Lake Winnipeg resort community. Chudd said he hopes a motion will be filed in federal court next week.

Chudd, local fishermen and the group Friends of the Earth say they believe North Dakota's plan will pollute Canadian waters. North Dakota officials say that isn't true.

Estrin said the International Boundary Waters treaty, which was signed by the United States and Canada in 1909, can be used by Canada's federal court to order the project stopped. Estrin says he believes its order would be enforceable in the United States.

"There is federal legislation that implements the treaty in Canada. (It) says the federal court has jurisdiction (over) any injured party or person," Estrin said.

The outlet, which is expected to be operating within a month, would drain Devils Lake flood water into the Sheyenne River. The Sheyenne is a tributary of the Red River, which flows northward into Canada, emptying into Lake Winnipeg.

Joe Belford, a commissioner in North Dakota's Ramsey County who has been promoting the outlet, said he expects Devils Lake to hit a record high this summer after weeks of heavy rain in the basin.

"There is about five times, six times the water coming in as going out," he said.

The Manitoba government, the state of Minnesota and a group of North Dakota outlet opponents asked the North Dakota Supreme Court to halt the outlet, but the court ruled last month it could go ahead.

Prime Minister Paul Martin has asked U.S. President George Bush to have the project studied by the International Joint Commission, a panel set up by both countries to arbitrate cross-boundary water issues. Bush has not agreed to forward the matter to the commission.

"Unfortunately, as the saying goes, we're at the 11th hour," Chudd said.