“There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of fact.”
― Mark Twain

Was there ever life on Venus? | World Economic Forum

Those look like lava flows, not rivers drainages.

This is what river drainages look like.

It is analogous to misinterpretation of Mars Imagery 120 years ago.

THERE IS LIFE ON THE PLANET MARS; Prof. Percival Lowell recognized as the greatest authority on the subject, declares there can be no doubt that living beings inhabit our neighbor world. – The New York Times

The photographs show that the dark areas in Mars can only be explained by vegetation

08 May 1926 – LIFE ON MARS – Trove

15 Jan 1915 – How the Martians Made Their Canals. – Trove

20 Jan 1901, Page 4 – The Anaconda Standard

TimesMachine: November 10, 1907 – NYTimes.com

MARS CANALS FOR DRAINAGE. – German Says They Are to Prevent Floods When Pole Caps Melt.

TimesMachine: August 27, 1911 – NYTimes.com

12 Feb 1921, Page 10 – Reading Times

04 Oct 1919, Page 47 – The Winnipeg Tribune

08 Feb 1920, Page 69 – New-York Tribune

TimesMachine: March 26, 1927 – NYTimes.com

27 Feb 1928, Page 4 – The Daily Courier

18 Sep 1940, Page 3 – The Hopewell Herald

10 Jun 1948 – PLANT LIFE ON MARS – Trove

TimesMachine: June 25, 1950 – NYTimes.com

St. Petersburg Times – Google News Archive Search

06 Jun 1965, Page 82 – Express and News

The Southeast Missourian

05 Aug 1998, Page 4 – Clarion-Ledger