Braided rivers transport a large amount of sediments containing organic carbon. We hypothesised that braided rivers’ constantly changing flows and locations will impact how much carbon is exported vs stored. We tested this hypothesis by placing litter (Tea Bag Index) to evaluate difference in carbon storage in the main channel, side channel and on the island on three different sites (upstream, midstream and downstream) in the Selwyn-Waikirikiri River. Water samples for dissolved organic carbon (DOC) content were collected every 14 days from spring (September) through autumn (March). Samples were taken at 3 locations at each site (1 in the main channel, 1 in the side channel and one where the two channels come together). Circa 12% of the tea bags were destroyed, either by flooding or complete degradation over the time period. The results show that the midstream, with an overall (including main channel, side channel and island) stabilization factor of 0.7, contains the most carbon stored, while the upstream site has the least (-0.3). Overall our results from main vs side channels did not fit with our hypothesis that carbon stabilization would be indirectly proportional to mean flow velocity.  Future work will expand this analysis to include the terrestrial (weeds on braid plain) and aquatic (algae) vegetation in the river, which we observed to very present in the side channel of the midstream. Out of these results will the hypothesis that braided rivers by constantly changing flows impact on how much carbon is export vs stored proven correct, although it seems that the direction and magnitude of these relationships can vary between locations.