Mike Lysaght was inducted as a Fellow of the Australian Hydrographers Association on Wednesday 2 April 2025.
Mike started his career in the water industry in 1974 along with a number of other post school applicants who entered on a work experience program at the Metropolitan Water Sewerage and Drainage Board (now known as Sydney Water).
This learning program included work experience in the different functional areas such as Field Survey, Survey Drafting, Plumbing and Draining and Gauging sub-branches.
Mike showed an interest and was offered a job as a TIT program (Technicians in Training) commencing work in Investigations Branch, Gauging Sub-Branch, MWS&DB in January 1974.
The Gauging Sub-Brach had originally commenced as Trade Waste monitoring group which provided the data from chart recorders and water meter readings used to charge industry for industrial/commercial wastewater discharges to the sewerage system.
Other functional areas of this small group included sewer flow, rainfall, stormwater, streamflow and dam level and flow monitoring and data processing and over the years Mike and the TiTs were rotated throughout to build the in-house expertise.
The TiTs were all enrolled in the Hydrography Certificate, which at the time was the only recognised training and run mainly by TAFE College of External Studies with a few face to face courses offered after much lobbying.
Mike was awarded the Hydrography Certificate upon successful completion by the end of 1976. This was followed up in 1977 with additional studies at TAFE including Digital Computing, Industrial Instrumentation Practise, Electrical Principles and Process Fluid Measurements, a mandatory requirement in Gauging Sub Branch at the time.
Mike was appointed as Gauging Technician* (* a position later renamed as Hydrographer and also Senior Hydrographer) and in the period from 1977 through to about 1994 worked in all areas of Trade Waste, Sewer, Rainfall, Stormwater and Streamflow monitoring on a rotational basis.
The work included gauging station operation and maintenance, firstly with clock driven charts and later the first of punched paper tape and solid-state digital EPROM data loggers. The work often required working in adverse conditions in industrial settings, in confined spaces, in manholes, lined channel and unlined channel, at sewage treatment plants. Flood gauging in sewers, and on tinnies [ lightweight aluminium boat] in rivers, on manned cable cars and using remote traveller units was always an exciting challenge that Mike enjoyed.
During his time there were many changes including the name change of MWS&DB in 1987 to The Sydney Water Board, then Sydney Water Corporation in 1994. Gauging sub-branch changed to Hydrographic Services and later Hydrometric Serviced and after Corporatisation was moved into the new Trading Arm of Sydney Water, Australian Water Technologies Pty Ltd AWT).
Mike progressed from Hydrographer to Senior Hydrographer and in 1994 to Senior Manager spearheading AWT Pty Ltd gauging work in New Zealand managing Sewer, Rainfall, Inflow and Infiltration programs for Councils and which ultimately led to the establishment of a new business in AWT New Zealand Pty Ltd.
Mike worked as a Senior Manager from 1994 until leaving in 2006 at which time he was head hunted into *Hydrological Services (*later known as Hyquest Solutions and Kisters Instrumentation) as Business Development Manager growing the sales across the world and helping the business into new markets.
Mike provided training to many of the agencies as part of the supply of the HS/Hyquest instrument systems, completed a train the trainer program and provided AHA training services to many hydrographers.
Mike retired in 2020 but has continued to provide training services through the AHA. He still works on assessing and marking papers for the AHA but really prefers fishing.