He occupies land next to the bank (8)

I believe the answer is:

riparian

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'next to the bank' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'he occupies land' is the wordplay.
'he' becomes 'Rip'.
'occupies land' becomes 'arian' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'rip'+'arian'='RIPARIAN'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for riparian that I've seen before include "Relating to river banks" , "Relating to a riverbank - Iran pair (anag)" , "Relating to a river bank" , "associated with banks" , "along river bank" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.