Non-perennial streams flow intermittently but are otherwise comprised of disconnected pools and dried stream beds. Storms increase hydrologic connectivity around the stream channel, facilitating dissolved organic carbon (DOC) transport from surrounding uplands to perennial stream networks. Organic matter lability, meaning the ease of which organic matter is broken down by microorganisms, is dependent in part on its chemical properties, which vary with its source. We aim to understand how surface and subsurface flow paths connect and influence carbon lability and transport before, during, and after storm events. Our study took place in two tributaries draining catchments with contrasting land cover (one urban, one forested) in the East Fork Poplar Creek watershed in Oak Ridge, TN. We collected stream and groundwater from wells installed in perennial and non-perennial reaches of both areas during baseflow and storm flow in Fall 2024 and Winter 2025. All samples were analyzed for major anions and cations, DOC, nutrients, and trace elements while baseflow and storm groundwater samples were also analyzed for dissolved inorganic carbon, sulfides, and Fe(II). Carbon lability was assessed spectroscopically by measuring ultraviolet absorbance at 254 nm (SUVA254), a measurement positively correlated with aromatic (not labile) carbon. During baseflow conditions, DOC concentrations were slightly higher in the urban (3.1 ± 0.6 mg/L) than the forested tributary (1.9 ± 0.3 mg/L) but were comparable between streams and groundwater within each tributary. SUVA254 values, however, were higher in streams (6.2 ± 0.6 L/(mg*m)) than groundwater (3.8 ± 0.3 L/(mg*m)) at baseflow, regardless of land cover. During the storm event, DOC concentrations started high in the stream (22.7 mg/L) and decreased through the storm (10.3 mg/L) but remained low in groundwater (0.88 ± 0.06 mg/L). SUVA254 values in the stream were low relative to baseflow but increased throughout the storm (2.9-5.6 L/(mg*m)), while SUVA254 values in groundwater were elevated yet variable (2.9 ± 0.3 L/(mg*m)). While low SUVA254 values in the stream early in the storm indicate inputs of labile carbon from groundwater, elevated DOC concentrations and SUVA254 values in the stream later in the storm imply that runoff from surface soils is contributing recalcitrant carbon.