The 31st annual Echo Park Lotus Festival is only two weeks away, but something--something central to the event--is missing: The Lotus. The past few years have seen a disturbing and rapid decline in the lotus blooms and leaves that typically spring up in the lake and bathe the water's surface in beautiful pinks and whites. But it's not just a temporary stall in flowering--some believe that the lotus will not be back, and the Lotus......