Prof. Erie's San Diego Drought Paranoia Thesis Proven Wrong Professor Steven P. Erie in his recent book Beyond Chinatown: The Metropolitan Water District, Growth, and the Environment in Southern California (2006) portrays as paranoid San Diego's fear of being the first to have wholesale water supplies cut off in the event of a regional drought. Erie’s book incessantly pooh-poohs the perspective of San Diego water officials that what they were fighting for was equal priority “water rights” from MWD’s system in the event of a regional drought or a political drought. As San Diego Water Authority General Manager Maureen Stapleton...