I wanted river to be diverted by the dowser (5,7)

I believe the answer is:

water diviner

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'the dowser' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see an association between them that I don't see?

'i wanted river to be diverted' is the wordplay.
'to be diverted' indicates anagramming the letters (each letter get diverted elsewhere).
'i'+'wanted'+'river'='iwantedriver'
'iwantedriver' is an anagram of 'WATER-DIVINER'.

'by' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for water diviner that I've seen is " Dowser, traditionally using a forked stick".)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Independent.

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