Water in and on the chain before lubricating it is completely harmless.

This is because the "wicking power" of all oils, and even of mineral spirits, is way stronger than that of water.
The oil, or oil/solvent mix, will penetrate the deepest spaces in and around the rollers/bushings, the pins/bushings and the inner/outer side plates.

The usual post-lube wipe-down will force any excess of lube out of the chain, but the water will be the first to go, if any even remains after being displaced by lubing. This takes longer with thicker lubes, of course.

I don't know where the theory of lube being stripped semi-permantly off of the wear surfaces came from, but adding even the weakest of lubes will do far more in terms of lubrication than any micro-film of the old stuff will.

The only noteworthy precaution I employ (aside from respecting the health and fire hazards of solvents) is to allow solvents (whether part of the lube, or residual from a cleaning process) to dry several hours before riding, after the chain has been lubed and thoroughly wiped down. This helps keep lube from flying off the chain and/or creeping out from the innards where it might then attract dirt.

I don't clean chains beyond simply wiping them down thoroughly after lubing, and mine last a long, long time.
If the chain looks oily, that's too much lube. It needs to be wiped down until all external oilyness is gone.

Solvent-blended lubes are good in terms of leaving less lube behind that might need to be wiped off again and again.
These lubes also make it more practical to lube the moving chain with a continuous stream, which makes for a sub-20-second application.
I spend a lot longer than that wiping the chain down afterwards using a terry shop rag, but it then requires no more wiping off after the first ride or two, and looks and stays clean thereafter.

I immediately lube the chain on any wet bike before parking it, which displaces all water. If it's late and time is short, I can finish a more complete wipe-down the next day before riding. Again, the solvent-diluted lubes allow the lube to be applied in under a half a minute.

I find that the dispenser of lube is an important factor in terms of how convenient the process is. I put the oil-based lube in the squeeze bottle with dispenser tube after diluting with ~50% mineral spirits. The original bottle tip delivers far too fat of a stream, so way too high flow for this job.