Georgia is hoping for some help from federal courts and the White House to stem the flow of Chattahoochee River water out of the state.

On Friday, Governor Sonny Perdue filed a motion for an injunction against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, asking for alteration of the withdrawals that are not-so-slowly draining Lake Lanier, which is the water source for much of metro Atlanta.

And Saturday, the governor declared a state of emergency for 85 Georgia counties, and asked President Bush to declare a major disaster area in Georgia.

There has been no response from the Florida District Court, nor the White House, so far, said Marshall Guest, Perdue's deputy press secretary.

If the president does declare north Georgia a natural disaster area, "he can come in and cut through the bureaucratic red tape, and possibly suspend the Endangered Species Act. And prevent the unnecessary flow of water down stream," Guest said.

The lakes on the Chattahoochee River are owned and operated by the Army Corps.

It is the Corps' attempt to be in compliance with the Endangered Species Act that is causing the problems with lake levels.

Endangered mussels and sturgeon live in the Apalachicola River. The Corps releases extra water during the short spring spawning season for the sturgeon, and maintains certain flows year round for the mussels.

The governor is asking the courts to demand that the Corps release no more water than would be getting to the mussels if the river were un-dammed. The flows going through now are roughly twice what would be provided by nature, under these drought circumstances, he said.

"Drought is a natural disaster, and we are experiencing the single worst drought in Georgia's history," Perdue said at a press conference held Saturday on the banks of Lake Lanier. "On top of that, we are mired in a man-made disaster of federal bureaucracy. We need to cut through the tangle of unnecessary bureaucracy to manage our resources prudently — so that in the long-term, all species may have access to life-sustaining water."

On Monday, Lanier was 14.8 feet blow full pool. West Point, the next lake in the chain, was 12.7 feet below full. More than a billion gallons are released from Lanier each day.

Though most of north Georgia received some rain on Sunday and Monday, no one is expecting the drought to break any time soon.

"The forecast is for a warm, dry winter without a lot of precipitation," Guest said.

State Rep. Lynn Smith, R-Newnan, said she feels that the average Georgian is beginning to understand how serious the situation is. And water experts are saying "we can't conserve our way out of this," she said.

Georgia is dealing with a prolonged drought and "when you compound that with the bureaucracy we're dealing with at the federal level... we're just in an extremely serious situation."

A point that the state is trying to make, Guest said, is that if the Corps keeps taking water out of the lake, eventually there won't be any more to take.

If the lake drops below the dam, at about 1,031 feet above mean sea level, the lake will be cut off from the river and no water can be released.

"If we give all of the water away now, push it down the 'Hooch, then there will not be any in the winter and the spring," Guest said.

When it comes to the disaster declaration, "we're hopeful that we hear back from the president soon, because this is a crisis," Guest said. But when the state requested a declaration because of the wildfires in south Georgia this spring, it was a month before the president responded, Guest said.

Last week, the Corps announced that it would begin an update of the manuals that it uses to manage the lakes on the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa basin, which include Lake Allatoona. Those manuals have not been updated in 17 years, according to the Associated Press. And the update could take three years.

Alabama leaders aren't happy — they are concerned that the update will unfairly benefit Georgia. "I intend to support the legitimate interests of Alabama to the full extent," Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions told the AP. "Georgia is not entitled to capture all the upstream water and use it as they will. The natural flow of the river must be maintained."

And another Alabama senator is sponsoring legislation to block the Corps from spending money on the updates.

On Monday afternoon, according to the Associated Press, Alabama Gov. Bob Riley sent a letter to the president urging him to deny Perdue's request for a disaster declaration. Riley said that the declaration would put people and jobs in Alabama at risk, and that Georgia has "overstated the severity of the crisis in the Atlanta region."

While Georgia has year-round water restrictions, and the northern half of the state now has a total ban on outside watering, there are no state-wide watering restrictions in Alabama. However, about half of the state's residents are under water restrictions imposed by their water providers.

Georgia officials have been urging the Corps for several years to do a similar update to the operating manuals for the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint basin.

Georgia's congressional delegation and senators are working hard in Washington D.C. to make changes, Smith said. The entire delegation is very much united on this point, she said.

On Wednesday, Perdue asked the Corps to reduce flows out of Lake Lanier. The Corps refused, which led to the filing of the injunction.

"The Corps' nonsensical action to further release vital water from Georgia's already depleted federal reservoirs must not stand," Perdue said. "There is simply no scientific justification to operate these reservoirs in this manner during a historic drought like the one we are experiencing."

However, last week, the Corps sent a letter to Georgia Environmental Protection Division Director Carol Couch, saying it was "exploring possible drought contingency options" to offer relief.

And White House press secretary Dana Perino stated, in response to the disaster request, that "In the meantime, we have already begun drafting interim rules to use procedures and flexibility to address the endangered species requirements, and the Army Corps has started the process of revising the operations manual for the river basin."

Not everyone thinks that the Atlanta water crisis is all the Corps fault.

"Whether you've lived in Georgia for five months or 50 years, it's easy to see the huge numbers of people moving to the state was going to put the squeeze on our water resources," Jill Johnson, interim director of Georgia Conservation Voters, told the Associated Press.

"The Corps has become a scapegoat for a lack of political leadership over the issue of water," she said. "It's been massive unchecked development that's put further strain on our water supply."

Even if the Corps does decide to cut the releases, Smith said, "it's still not going to take away the fact that we're in a drought."

While everyone is concerned right now, Smith is worried about what might happen if we get a few big thunderstorms "and it looks like the crisis is not as intense." She's afraid that people will see some rain and quit caring.

"From everything that has been told to me, it's getting a lot worse," Smith said. "That's why we all need to be skilled at learning how to conserve water."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.