owners, the watershed association undertook a project to restore the nine mile run stream in urban pittsburgh. schombert: the urban impacts on that watershed have been enormous. flooding flows, combined sewer overflows, gave it the nickname of "stink creek" for many, many years. hecht: before the stream restoration, when you have a rain event, the stream would just be barreling, just filled with tons and tons of water, and the water would move very quickly, eroding the stream banks further. narrator: the rushing water ran all the combined sewage straight into the monongahela river, which is a main supplier of drinking water for the region. hecht: what has happened because of the restoration is the water overflows its banks, it floods into these nice flood plains with native plants. and then slowly the water percolates back down into the stream. narrator: this allows the land to naturally filter and clean the sewer overflows before they enter the river. the restoration included extensive environmental changes to improve the stream and infrastructure changes to reduce the csos into the watershe

its importance as a major destination spot for the great urban migration, have you ever considered writing a story or book your hometown of pittsburgh [applause] >> guest: i've been considering it for about 50 years. [laughter] >> guest: it's big, big subject. and i have to figure out in my mind how to shape it. let me just close with a thought that i'm turning over in my head and it began with thinking about pittsburgh. when i grew up, pittsburgh was a giant mill town, steel town, the biggest steel production. they also made glass and all kinds of things. it was a mill town. and that's what we were proud of. and now that's all gone. all gone. what's there? what's replaced it? what do you think? who do you think is the biggest employer in pittsburgh now instead of steel production? the universities. the university of pittsburgh and the university of pittsburgh medical center, carnegie mellon and duquesne university. and they are the most exciting and the most far-reaching, far-sighted enterprise in pittsburgh. it's true in lots of places. we have transformed in from this mill town of these thrilling universities in science and medic