Greece’s Epiphany events marking Christ’s baptism highlight concerns about water scarcity

MARATHON, Greece (AP) — As Orthodox Christians around the world attended Epiphany ceremonies on Tuesday to commemorate the baptism of Christ, worried officials in Greece used the moment to highlight growing water scarcity.

A priest cast a wooden cross into the visibly depleted waters of Lake Marathon, an artificial reservoir north of Athens. Water stored there and in the other three reservoirs supplying Athens has dropped from more than 1 billion cubic meters in 2022 to about 390 million cubic meters.

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People attend the Epiphany ceremony as a Greek Orthodox priest, center, holding a cross blesses the waters at Lake Marathon, near Athens, on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, where receding water levels reflect successive years of low rainfall across Greece. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

An islet that recently emerged is seen at Lake Marathon near Athens, Greece, on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, as receding water levels reflect years of low rainfall. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Giorgos Chrysinas Water Board (EYDAP) electricity supervisor adjusts a Greek flag on a small boat at Lake Marathon near Athens, Greece, on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, as receding water levels reflect years of low rainfall. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Giorgos Chrysinas, an electricity supervisor for the Water Board (EYDAP), attends the Epiphany ceremony from a small boat at Lake Marathon near Athens, Greece, on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, as receding water levels reflect years of low rainfall. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

People attend the Epiphany ceremony as a Greek Orthodox priest, center, throws a cross blessing the waters at Lake Marathon, near Athens, on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, where receding water levels reflect successive years of low rainfall across Greece. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

The dramatic decline prompted authorities in November to declare a water emergency in the capital.

“This is the third consecutive year of a significant drop in reservoir levels. This means that the problem is right in front of us,” George Stergiou, chairman of the greater Athens water utility, EYDAP, told The Associated Press after attending the Marathon ceremony.

Stergiou warned that prolonged droughts are becoming more frequent and are often followed by intense rainfall that does little to replenish supplies.

The state-run utility has announced a 2.5 billion euro ($2.9 billion), decade-long investment program to reduce water losses and boost water security, including pipe replacements, smart meters and expanded wastewater reuse.

“What we want to do, as a first step, is replace all those uses that today could be met with non-potable water by recycled water,” Stergiou said.

Reservoir manager Sofia Nalpantidou said Marathon’s low level should be viewed in context, noting the lake is connected with the wider system and partly managed for seasonal flood control.

“We usually keep it lower in winter because we want to maintain a buffer,” Nalpantidou said.

Residents have noted the changes.

“In the past, it used to rain a lot more, sometimes daily. That doesn’t happen anymore,” said Antonis Stamou, a 78-year-old retiree who attended Tuesday’s service.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) — Families of students killed in the Uvalde, Texas, school massacre are among those who could testify at the trial of a police officer who was part of the hesitant law enforcement response and is charged with failing to protect children from the teenage gunman.

Opening statements were set to begin Tuesday, a day after a judge seated a jury in the rare case involving charges against an officer who is accused of not doing more to save lives. Authorities waited more than an hour to confront the shooter.

Adrian Gonzales, a former Uvalde schools officer who was among the first to respond to one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history, has pleaded not guilty. His attorney has said the officer tried to save children that day at Robb Elementary.

“He could have stopped him, but he didn’t want to be the target,” said Velma Lisa Duran, sister of teacher Irma Garcia, who was among the 19 students and two teachers who were killed.

Duran, who arrived at the courthouse Tuesday morning to watch the beginning of the trial, said authorities stood by more than three years ago while her sister “died protecting children.”

Gonzales faces 29 counts of child abandonment or endangerment and could be sentenced to a maximum of two years in prison if he’s convicted.

He and former Uvalde schools police chief Pete Arredondo are the only two officers to face criminal charges over the response. Arredondo’s trial has not been scheduled.

Some families of the victims were upset that more officers were not charged given that nearly 400 federal, state and local officers converged on the school soon after the 2022 attack.

Terrified students inside the classrooms called 911 and parents outside begged for intervention by officers, some of whom could hear shots being fired while they stood in a hallway. A tactical team of officers eventually went into the classroom and killed the shooter.

An investigation found 77 minutes passed from the time authorities arrived until the tactical team breached the classroom and killed Salvador Ramos, who was obsessed with violence and notoriety in the months leading up to the shooting.

The trial for Gonzales was expected to last about two weeks, Judge Sid Harle said. Before seating the jury Monday, he told several hundred potential jurors that the court was not looking for those who know nothing about the shooting but wants jurors who can be impartial.

Close to 100 people were dismissed after saying they already formed opinions.

Among the potential witnesses are FBI agents, Texas Rangers, emergency dispatchers and school employees.

At the request of Gonzales’ attorneys, the trial was moved to Corpus Christi after they argued Gonzales could not receive a fair trial in Uvalde.

The indictment accuses Gonzales of putting children in “imminent danger” of injury or death by failing to engage, distract or delay the shooter and by not following his training. The allegations also say he did not go toward the gunfire despite hearing shots and being told the shooter’s location.

State and federal reviews of the shooting cited cascading problems in law enforcement training, communication, leadership and technology, and questioned why officers waited so long.

According to the state review, Gonzales told investigators that once police realized there were students still sitting in other classrooms, he helped evacuate them.

Prosecutors likely will face a high bar to win a conviction. Juries are often reluctant to convict law enforcement officers for inaction, as seen after the Parkland, Florida, school massacre in 2018.

Sheriff’s deputy Scot Peterson was charged with failing to confront the shooter in that attack. It was the first such prosecution in the U.S. for an on-campus shooting, and Peterson was acquitted by a jury in 2023.

Associated Press journalists Nicholas Ingram in Corpus Christi, Texas; Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas; Juan A. Lozano in Houston and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed to this report.