FLINT, MI -- Lead levels dropped slightly in Flint homes tested during the second half of 2017, and a state official announcing the news said the city's "water quality is restored."

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality announced Friday, Jan. 12, that 90 percent of 134 samples collected for the federal Lead and Copper Rule testing were at or below 6 parts per billion of lead, less than one-half the federal threshold.

In the first six months of 2017, 90 percent of water samples were at or below 7 ppb of lead.

"For 18 months, data has shown that Flint's water quality is restored and testing is the same or better than many cities across the state and country," Keith Creagh, director of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, said in a news release.

The DEQ's announcement does not include any information about the future of state funding for bottled water distribution in the city -- an initiative that state officials have said would likely be reviewed this month if the LCR testing continued to trend well below 15 ppb of lead.

MLive-The Flint Journal could not immediately reach Kristin Moore, a spokeswoman for Mayor Karen Weaver, for comment on the new test results.

Weaver said in December that Rich Baird, senior advisor to Gov. Rick Snyder, told city officials that water distribution sites could close in January but warned the state not to move too quickly.

"Before I can support this move, I need to hear from the doctors we have been working with for the last two years ... and I would hope that state officials would ask for their professional opinions as well, before shutting down the (points of distribution)," Weaver said in a Dec. 6 statement.

Creagh's statement praised Weaver's service line replacement program, an initiative designed to replace every lead and galvanized line in the city, for helping to lower levels of lead.

DEQ's announcement said talks are ongoing between state, city and Flint Community Schools officials about a plan for "extensive flushing and testing" for lead in city schools.

Students in Flint schools drink bottled water supplied through donations from Walmart, Coca-Cola, Nestle and PepsiCo.

Measuring lead in Flint's water has been complicated since the city changed its source water to the Flint River in April 2014.

That's partly because the city failed to test homes at high risk of elevated lead, which the law required, while they used water from the river.

Testing by Virginia Tech University from August and September 2015 pegged Flint's 90th percentile lead value at 25 ppb.

The city's own testing after the switch to the Flint River also showed lead levels were rising -- to 6 ppb in 2014 to 11 ppb in the first six months of 2015.

The spikes came after more than a decade in which high lead readings were very rare in Flint with just one of 155 samples tested registering higher than 15 ppb of lead.

If lead concentrations exceed 15 ppb or copper concentrations exceed an action level of 1.3 ppm in more than 10 percent of customer taps sampled, the water system must undertake a number of additional actions to control corrosion.

If the action level for lead is exceeded, customers of the system must also be told what steps they should take to protect their health, and the water system may also be required to replace lead service lines under their control.