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The presentation critically examines 'forest-fed' rivers, smaller rivers that support human habitation within the Himalayas. Forest and water resources are critical landscape elements for carbon-water sequestration and climate impact reduction through nature-based adaptation strategies. Enhancing and conserving these key landscape features can leverage ecological and economic opportunities for settling in the mountains. The Garhwal region in the Himalayan region is renowned for its key rivers, such as the Bhagirathi, Alaknanda, Yamuna and the Ganga, that flow within deep gorges and do not support settlements. The paper emphasizes the role of 'forest-fed' rivers, which do not have a glacial source of origin. The spread of settlements are found along the smaller, more accessible river streams which emerge from forests and underground springs can be termed as 'Inhabited ecologies'. The paper explores the role of 'forest-fed' rivers in sustaining traditional (aquifers, springs, traditional irrigation canals) and modern water resources supporting settlement and agriculture within the mountains. The quality and quantity of water resources within these 'Inhabited ecologies' have an inseparable relationship to its landscape, which have been compromised due to loss of native forests, increasing anthropogenic activities, increasing global temperature and irregular precipitation. The paper explores research by design methodology utilizing cartography and interpretative mapping in investigating the Barkot watershed within the Garhwal region of the Himalayas (250 km north of Delhi).