When Ronald Smith became ensnared in a corruption probe and resigned in disgrace from an obscure South Bay water agency, his board colleagues quickly vowed to impose changes to combat such ethical lapses. The Carson-based West Basin Municipal Water District, which has a $200 million budget and supplies imported water to 17 mostly South Bay cities, performed an audit, overhauled codes of conduct for board members and eliminated individual community outreach funds, the same pot of money that Smith used to steer $20,000 of public funds through a Torrance nonprofit to pay for personal expenses. But that was three years ago.