(a)

1. (1) The department shall establish the Nesting Bird Habitat Incentive Program, which may include direct payments or other incentives, to encourage landowners to voluntarily cultivate or retain upland cover crops, cereal grains, grasses, forbs, pollinator plants, or a combination thereof to provide waterfowl and other game bird nesting habitat cover, including, but not limited to, for the purposes described in Section 1018 of the Water Code.
2. (2) The program is established for waterfowl, ring-necked pheasant, and other game bird breeding purposes and shall not be used to provide managed wetland habitat, as defined in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 1506, for wintering waterfowl habitat purposes.
3. (3) For purposes of this section, “landowner” means any entity with authority to manage real property to provide waterfowl, ring-necked pheasant, and other game bird nesting habitat cover.

(b) The department may develop guidelines and criteria for the Nesting Bird Habitat Incentive Program as it deems appropriate, but shall ensure that the guidelines and criteria are flexible enough to meet landowner needs. The program shall do all of the following:

1. (1) Prohibit a landowner who participates in the program and has committed to leaving the established upland cover crops, cereal grains, grasses, forbs, pollinator plants, or a combination thereof in place after April 1 from engaging in practices, such as discing, spraying of herbicides, mowing, chopping, or rolling any vegetation on those lands until after July 15, or as late as possible each year, to address waterfowl nesting, upland game bird habitat, and other wildlife needs.
2. (2) Give priority to grants or contracts with landowners that include lands adjacent to, or in close proximity to, waterfowl brood habitat, including, but not limited to, areas flooded during the spring or summer for the cultivation of rice, State Wildlife Areas, National Wildlife Refuges, and private wetlands enrolled in the California Waterfowl Habitat Program (Article 7 (commencing with Section 3460)).
3. (3) Be consistent with the waterfowl habitat breeding goals and objectives of the Central Valley Joint Venture Implementation Plan, as it may be amended, or the Intermountain West Joint Venture Implementation Plan, as it may be amended.
4. (4) Give priority to landowners who are willing to enter into grants or contracts for three years or more.
5. (5) Allow for the rotation of fallowed fields to different areas of a landowner’s property on an annual basis.
6. (6) Prohibit, in connection with the approval of a transfer, a landowner who participates in the program from diverting or using any water under any basis of right to irrigate land idled in order to provide water for transfer, unless the transfer is approved by the State Water Resources Control Board pursuant to Part 2 (commencing with Section 1200) of Division 2 of the Water Code, or by the Department of Water Resources pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 1810) of Chapter 11 of Part 2 of Division 2 of the Water Code, and the irrigation of the idled land is expressly authorized pursuant to that approval.
7. (7) Allow for activities undertaken or requested by mosquito control agencies to address mosquito production.

(e) To implement the Nesting Bird Habitat Incentive Program, the department may do both of the following:

1. (1) Enter into grants or contracts directly with landowners.
2. (2) Enter into grants or contracts with public and private entities, including nonprofit organizations, and California Native American tribes, as defined in Section 21073 of the Public Resources Code, to help the department implement the program. Pursuant to these grants or contracts, the public and private entities, nonprofit organizations, and California Native American tribes may enter into grants or contracts with landowners to carry out the purposes of the program.