TOOWONG residents are waking to the roar of engines most Saturday and Sunday mornings as scores of jet-ski and power-boat users take to a stretch of Brisbane River fronting hundreds of homes.

Genevieve Vella has been living in a riverfront apartment in Toowong for nearly two years and says the number of boats and jet-skis on the river has risen in that time.

"It seems there is more each weekend and the noise is just getting worse,’’ she said.

"It starts at about 7am, or even before, and goes until sun-down.

"Sitting in our living room it’s all you can hear basically."

The stretch of river which fronts the residential area is popular with water-sport enthusiasts, however rising frustrations among residents has called into question who is responsible for governing the stretch of river.

While the river bank falls into council jurisdiction the river itself remains a point of contention.

Brisbane City Council does not deal with noise complaints relating to the use of ``off road noisy vehicles’’ however does provide acceptable decibel guidelines for residential areas.

According to council’s website a lawn-mover from 15 metres away is 70 decibels and is classed on their scale as “background noise".

An industry website says the average jet-ski creates 115 decibels the noise.

However the issue of noise control and complaints on the river officially falls to the Queensland Water Police, an organisation based in the outer Brisbane suburb of Lytton.

"Water Police get dispatched to all issues on the river including noise complaints," a water police spokesperson said.

"However the Acting Officer in Charge of the Brisbane Water Police is unaware of any issue in the Toowong area."

Ms Vella said she and other residents were unaware they needed to address their complaints to police.

They are angry that the council, police and responsible government departments are not collaborating on the issue.

"The Department of Transport has guidelines on using water craft...but don’t enforce them," Ms Vella said.

"Instead that’s apparently a police job, which doesn’t seem to make any sense."

The Department of Transport spokesperson, through a written statement, said banning jet-skis would be the only way to curb the noise problem.

"In areas where there a large number of waterside residences...excluding personal watercraft from these areas may be the only feasible way of effectively managing the noise."

With more than 10 apartment complexes and tens of houses fronting the Toowong stretch of river, residents are questioning why their homes do not fall into the above mentioned category.

"The noise of the engines is bad, but the jet-boats also often play music quite loudly," said Ms Vella.

"So you have engines revving, music blaring and people shouting...so it’s definitely a situation which matches that description."

Ms Vella says far from wanting to exclude people from using the river, she just wants river users to be aware of the noise they create.

"We don’t want to be the fun police, and we don’t want to get anyone in trouble with the law,’’ she said.

"We just want people to realise they are in a residential area and to act accordingly...and as far as we are concerned there needs to be an official organisation or department to pass on this information to people enjoying the river."