The longtime head of the San Diego County Water Authority announced Wednesday she is retiring after 23 years. We profiled Maureen Stapleton, the agency’s general manager, last year. She helped the region secure its own supplies of water, making her a respected civic leader. But amid a water war she helped launch and the bitter, personal disputes it’s set off, it became an open question whether Stapleton would be able to end her career on a good note. Last year, one of the Water Authority’s board members said an intoxicated Stapleton came up to him at an industry event and accused him of sleeping with an employee at a rival water agency. There’s no evidence such an affair happened.