In time to keep river out of public view (2,6)
I believe the answer is:
in camera
'out of public view' is the definition.
(legal term meaning 'in private')
'in time to keep river' is the wordplay.
'time' becomes 'era' (I've seen this before**).
'to keep' indicates putting letters inside.
'river' becomes 'cam' (I've seen this before).
'in'+'era'='inera'
'inera' going around 'cam' is 'IN CAMERA'.
(Other definitions for in camera that I've seen before include "With public absent" , "place for a film?" , "under wraps" , "Kept private (law)" , "secret" .)