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01.10.2026

Hydrological post "Sozh – Krichev" celebrated Its 50th anniversary

On 1 October 1976, on the south-eastern outskirts of Krichev, a story began that has been written every day without breaks for weekends and holidays. It was then, 500 metres below the confluence of the Khudobychka River, that the hydrological post "Sozh – Krichev" of the Branch "Mogilevoblhydromet" of Belhydromet began its work.
For all these 50 years, the specialists of the post have been performing the most important, almost jeweller's work. They literally "listen" to the breathing of the river:
- daily measure the water level and temperature;
- determine the thickness of ice in the winter period, note the dates of freezing and breaking up of the river.
- conduct observations of the flow velocity and other hydrological characteristics.

The data of the "Sozh – Krichev" post are not just figures in a journal. On their basis, hydrological forecasts are compiled, storm warnings about hazardous phenomena are issued, and the state of water resources is assessed. For example, when the water level near Krichev drops below the hazardous low mark, Belhydromet informs about difficulties for river transport. And during the spring flood, it is the data from this post that help assess the scale of the water rise and timely warn the interested services.
In winter, the post continues to work with the same regularity – ice thickness is measured, shore ice and sludge ice are recorded. In summer, there is another task: to track whether the level will reach critically low values. Over 50 years, different generations of observers have passed through the post. Their names rarely appear in newspapers, but it is their daily work – in rain and frost, in flood and drought – that ensures the continuity of the hydrological series, one of the most valuable assets of the state hydrometeorological service. Every measurement, every record is a link in a chain that stretches from the distant 1976 to the present day and beyond.

The "Sozh – Krichev" post is a place where science and nature meet, where every day a specialist goes out to the river to write another page of its biography. Half a century is a solid term. But the Sozh is tireless, and the work of hydrologists continues.