Washington -- Gov. Sonny Perdue and his counterparts from Alabama and Florida met with Bush administration officials today about the drought-induced tri-state water crisis.

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Meanwhile, officials from the White House, Interior Department and Corps of Engineers met with the governors to work out a temporary plan for how the three states will share the lake's dwindling waters.

A week ago Perdue, Alabama Gov. Bob Riley and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist were publicly sparring over rights to Lanier, which provides most of metro Atlanta's drinking water. The water also supports downstream communities and industry, including a large nuclear power plant in southeast Alabama. And it is the lifeblood of Apalachicola Bay's seafood industry and federally protected mussel species.

Georgia has been pressing federal officials to temporarily lift requirements of the Endangered Species Act and reduce the amount of water flowing out of the lake. Alabama and Florida want the corps to keep sending more than a billion gallons a day out of Lanier.

Georgia depicts the dispute as a choice between people and mussels. That angers Riley and Crist, who both say Georgia is ignoring Lanier's crucial role in their economies.

On Wednesday, U.S. Sens. Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions of Alabama, sent a letter to President Bush decrying Georgia's claims.

"If you were to grant this request [from Georgia], you would not be 'siding with people' instead of mussels and sturgeons," the Republican senators wrote. "You would be valuing the well-being of the people in Georgia over the citizens of Alabama and Florida.

"Contrary to recent statements from Georgia officials," they wrote, "the water in Lake Lanier is not Georgia's water."

But the historic drought itself could force the corps to reduce the amount of water it's sending out of Lanier. The whole system -- from Lanier, down the Chattahoochee River and on to the Gulf of Mexico -- is headed to all-time lows. State officials predict metro Atlanta's water supply will be in jeopardy as soon as January if current daily water releases from Lanier and the drought continue.

The corps estimates Lanier has 120 days of readily available drinking water left. The state puts the count at only 80 days. Pumping out water from the bottom of the lake could extend supplies an additional five to six months, but it would be difficult and expensive to retrieve and treat that water.

"But even if we get relief from the Endangered Species requirements, and we reduce the flow, Florida and Alabama are going to sue us. I base that on a historical analysis" of the 17-year tri-state feud, Payne said earlier this week.

Georgia environmentalists say conservation is the real issue. At a Wednesday news conference at the Georgia Capitol, members of the Georgia Water Coalition, a group of 150 environmental and civic organizations, said that by using a few water-saving measures, metro Atlantans could save nearly 85 million gallons day, almost enough to supply DeKalb County.

Every metro Atlantan uses about 70 gallons of water per day. That could be cut to about 45 gallons through in-home conservation efforts, the coalition said.

The coalition also said government officials haven't taken the lead on getting 1 million older homes in metro Atlanta retrofitted with plumbing fixtures that use less water; that not enough has been done to fix leaky pipes; and that too many area homes are currently on septic tanks, which don't return water to rivers as promptly as sewer systems.

"During a drought, every single drop matters," Sally Bethea, executive director of the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, told reporters. "Wise planning for metro Atlanta's growth could have lessened the current crisis."

Perdue and state environmental chief Carol Couch contend the drought and the corps are the culprits, not development and consumption. The governor this week said conservation measures -- including the 10 percent cut he recently mandated -- are largely symbolic.

— Staff writer Stacy Shelton contributed to this article.