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triangle part of the County. The New Hope Basin is also a part of the Jordan Lake watershed. Generally, Orange County's buffers are calculated within the watershed based an a formula that looks at the slope of the land and some base buffer areas from the stream bank. Craig Benedict said that it is roughly 65-80 feet wide, and in some cases, on steeper slopes, it can be 160 feet total or 80 feet on either side. There are different requirements based on different watersheds within the County. University and Jordan Lakes have more strict buffer requirements. George Lucier said that Chatham County is working on this now and the Jordan Lake issue is massive. Craig Benedict said that Orange County has a department that has been given authority by the State for stream identification. This is the Erosion Sedimentation Control Department. He said that Orange County staff would be willing to assist Chatham County staff with knowledge and expertise about stream buffers and storm water regulations. Commissioner Jacobs said that there is a partnership on the DurhamlOrange County line with the City of Durham, Durham County, the Town of Chapel Hill, and Orange County to preserve natural areas. He said that the Little River Regional Park is a partnership between the Ena River Association, Triangle Land Conservancy, Durham County, and Orange County. He said that both of those fit better in the open space preservation category. He said that the southeastern portion of Orange County is a fruitful area in which to do collaboration that would positively impact Jordan Lake water quality. Mayor Voller asked what information Orange County has about the New Hope watershed. He said that it seems that Orange County is trying to buffer that area, but it directly affects anything Chatham County tries to do. Craig Benedict said that Orange County has had some land use decisions to decrease density and decrease imperviousness, besides having a buffer. He said that they have used a combination of their storm water ordinance and low impact design. Dave Stanch said that, from a land conservation standpoint, Orange County is looking at the Lands Legacy program to try and focus on confluences, places where streams came together. Mayor Voller said that they are all facing the same development pressures. He asked what happens when Carolina North is developed and there is a tremendous amount of impervious surface. Commissioner Jacobs said that Chapel Hill expects that there will be zero runoff an its sites. He said that Orange County has been doing watershed protection for a long time because it is the headwaters far sa many watersheds. He hopes that there will be more of a relationship between municipalities and helping to preserve by bringing some money to the table to do some of the conservation easements and make sure that there is not development in the watershed that adversely affects water. Commissioner Gordon mentioned one other multi-jurisdictional agreement -the Joint Planning Agreement from 1987. This is between Orange County, Chapel Hill, and Carrboro. 5. Transportation Planning/Public Transportation -OPT and CTN coordination Craig Benedict said that this has to do with the MPO and RPO coordination. He showed an area map of all of the counties in the RPO. There have been meetings on a regular basis for urban planning. There are ongoing extensive efforts to coordinate this MPO and an urban style transportation network. He made reference to population and employment projections. He said that they received new numbers last Friday from the DurhamlChapel Hill/Orange CountylChatham MPO. He then showed a chart on the screen related to growth that occurs with employment. He said that major growth is expected to occur and there needs to be a plan for public transportation. George Lucier said that he understands that these numbers are for the eastern third of Chatham County only.