How do I solve 2 down in Daily Telegraph Cryptic 31237?

Question

Accepted Answer

2 down reads "American alligators guarding watercourse" (5 letters); the answer is CANAL. It's a hidden-word clue: the answer is spelled out by consecutive letters in the clue itself, often crossing a word boundary. Indicators like 'in', 'some', or 'part of' signal that you're looking at a substring. The full step-by-step breakdown is on this page.

American alligators guarding watercourse (5)

2D — American alligators guarding watercourse (5) — CANAL