There are fresh warnings we are losing our battle when it comes to water quality.

A report from Land Air Water Aotearoa has collated information from regional councils across the country, and found 97 of the 700 waterways tested were unsuitable for swimming.

However, freshwater scientist Mike Joy believes it's much worse.

He told Andrew Dickens that this is a snapshot figure, as it just represents one moment when they were tested.

"If you look at it over the year, half of them will fail over that time." 

Joy says that it's quite a complicated and political issue, as LAWA and councils are reporting on themselves.

"You can pick it up in the press release, where the first bit says our waterways are good except when it rains. That's like me saying that my car's fine but the brakes don't work."

He says that pathogens do get into rivers when it rains, that shows the infrastructure doesn't work. 

Joy says he has spoken to overseas press about how tourists are coming here and discovering that it isn't as green as they have been marketed to.

"This is the risk that we run when we don't run our waterways properly."

He wants to see an independent organisation to oversee this issue. 

LISTEN TO MIKE JOY TALK WITH ANDREW DICKENS ABOVE